Synchronize
by CyberForte
Summary: Reimagining of Evangelion within the databased world of viruses and netnavis. [Highly AU.] [ReiShinji]
1. First Movement: Onslaught

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to me (CyberForte).

Introduction

It is the year 20XX. The internet has grown into a network that links nearly every electronic device on the planet. In addition, the majority of humankind now uses Network Navigators (NetNavis) to navigate the net. Navis are self-aware programs that can perform many functions, such as send mail, delete viruses, check online message boards, communicate with other NetNavis, et cetera. They are housed in Personal Terminals (PETs) which are like computer, ISP, Phone, etc all thrown into a single handheld device.

Of course, this Network Society is far from perfect. Net crime is a lucrative business for the unsavory elements, and NetNavis can be used for evil purposes as easily as good. Viruses are also a major issue, having now taken on a pseudo-physical appearance akin to the rest of the cyber world, and they are able to attack navis freely. Luckily, virtual weapons known as battle chips have been developed to allow these threats to be combated, and many viruses even drop the data from these weapons upon deletion.

Within this world, nations exist still, but none are in the form we know them at present. It is possible that a great war has changed the world, and that the dates were reset, for even within the era of 19XX, countries such as Electopia (likely formerly Japan), Netopia (culture seems to be a fusion of much of western Europe and the United States), Sharo (very much akin to Russia), Creamland (also European), Netfrica (much akin to Africa), Yumland (more eastern, perhaps akin to Thailand or Tibet?) and Nation X (only known to be highly advanced) existed upon world maps, rather than those which are known to today's world.

Aside from random acts of Net crime and the perpetual threats originating from the dark haven known as the Uranet, there have been many focused attacks upon the Network Society, of number of which have been perpetrated by a deranged older scientist known as Dr. Wily, whose rage stemmed from the world's choice to rely upon the Network technology created by Tadashi Hikari rather than his own robotics. Aside from repeated attacks upon the world by his minions, the WWW or World Three, this subversive man also had a hand in the creation of the Gospel Netmafia and was the father of the infamous Dr. Regal, the head of the Dark Chip Syndicate, Nebula.

In the face of all these threats, a young hero emerged. Netto Hikari, age twelve, and his netnavi, Rockman.exe, along with a host of allies, rivals, and other cohorts, has saved the world on a grand total of seven occasions. Although many others were involved, most notable among his companions were three other children from his class and the world's foremost official Netbattler, Enzan Ijuin. Although the latter is of the same age as the former, the fact that he entered college at the same time as the former finished Junior High should say something for the difference in their mental states. His Navi, Blues.exe, is also extremely famous for his extreme speed and skill with sword weapons.

But these individuals, although perhaps making some impact on the story I shall relate to you, are not the focus. No, rather this story will take us to Netopia. Although a world leader in military technology, second only to Sharo (and possibly Nation X), Netopian Commanders oft find themselves scorned for the fact that, of those involved in saving the world in the past, the only notable Netopian personage has been the famous traitor, Barrel, and his deeds, despite being redeeming in the eyes of some, could never wipe the stamp of traitor from his image. Because of such things, situations like that which we shall open with have oft left Netopian citizens wishing for a hero of their own...

First Movement

"Onslaught"

"Damnit!" Such was hardly the extent of curses which flew within the tactical control center of the Netopian military installation known simply as Neo III. Located beneath the unsuspecting streets of one of the country's most populous cities, the existence of the base, known as NERV Central, was almost unknown to the world above, and thus its designation had nothing at all that could relate it to its physical location. Like everything else done by the Netopian Military, the base and all that was located within was _highly_ classified. Couldn't have Sharo or Electopia knowing about the secret projects, of course...

At present, though, many of those occupying the control center rather wished it wasn't so damn secret. A little help from the internationally famous Electopian hero Netto Hikari, the stuck-up official Netbattler Enzan, acknowledged to be one of the best in the business despite his age, or even the arrogant but extremely skilled Sharo Commander known as Raika would have been damn good right about now. But no, Netopian Military Leaders would never go so low as to ask for _help_, and so here they were, powerless to prevent the destruction that seemed to be befalling their city.

Not that it was for a lack of trying to help that these people were powerless; indeed, over one hundred NetNavis had been lost already in an attempt to stop the chaos, not to mention countless viruses. After all, one has to use the tools that one has to defend oneself, ja? But, regardless of what was thrown against it, the intruder seemed impervious; it was as if the masked and quite odd-looking invader had some sort of Aura. If so, though, it wasn't you average aura; more than one Northwind battle chip had been expended in an attempt to remove it, and still the navi's rampage continued.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the scene, though, was that the invader never spoke. In the past, even the most powerful and evil threats to the net had made some noise. The Dream Virus had roared. Gospel had spoken brokenly in its first form, and roared more loudly in its second. Even Proto, little more than a highly developed bug, was able to make some noise, and the extraterrestrial program Duo had been fluent in conversation. Hell, Forte, the Black Shadow, spoke, albeit rarely and usually in a very archaic fashion. But no, this strange dark green and off-white navi was silent as it went about its rampage; the only sounds those of the explosions its attack caused in the Cyber World--and those which mirrored them in the real world city above the base.

In form, though, this intruder was highly peculiar also. Although, like most navis, it was humanoid in shape, that was where the normalcy ended altogether; legs were almost triangular; far smaller at the bottom than at the top. Most of the body was a rather dark green, with off-white making an appearance on the shoulders and in the claw-like protrusion that seemed to wrap around its chest, a large red sphere appearing at the forefront. The head wasn't really defined, only being raised slightly from the body, and no face was present, but rather a small mask that was obviously taking the place of the human-esque faces used by many other navis. Arms were also slightly triangular, but they ended in definable hands and _did_ contain elbows. Alongside the forearms upon each side ran circular conduits, and within seemed to be an odd glowing red-pink energy weapon.

Although these weapons were highly potent, as was illustrated rather graphically by the thing grasping in its hand the face of a rather helpless standard official netnavi, then proceeding to ram the energy beam into said face until it burst, resulting in the orange navi's deletion, they were not its main weapon. Rather, from the red sphere on its chest was emitted a rather destructive beam of the same scarlet hue. Upon impacting any object in the cyber world, be it a navi or an object, it would explode in a cross shape, doing rather massive damage to the network itself. And, of course, since the city was highly technological, as the net was torn to data scraps, the devices attached to it in the real world would malfunction, oft exploding or otherwise causing damage. And it didn't help that the best defenses that the Netopian Military could offer up at present were being mowed down like dry summer grass 'neath a weed wacker.

Within the Control Center itself, though, despite all the commotion caused by the highly irksome attack, at least two men were calm. The first was an older individual, rather tall in thin. Quite the distinguished sort, too; probably an academic of some sort. His face was rather like his body; high and somewhat thin, and although worn with care and age, it was noticeably devoid of wrinkling; the man was not your average 'old gramps.'

Whilst the first stood next to a desk, watching the feed from the net area of the city above rather grimly, the other calm man was unreadable. Seated at said desk, he, like the first, wore a dark navy uniform, but his attire also included white gloves and red-tinted sunglasses. His posture was immaculate; back straight, arms brought to a steeple before his head, and face completely devoid of expression. As opposed to his companion's graying hair, his own was a dark brown, accompanied by a well-groomed and controlled beard. His age, although not as high as his companions, was hardly a low figure; one might put it circa fifty?

Even as the chaos that seemed to grip the rest of the room so relentlessly, the first finally deigned to break their silence, "So, Ikari, it seems that they have indeed arrived. An unfortunate turn of events, but hardly unforeseen." His choice was calm and controlled, as well as somewhat authoritative. This would confirm the possibility of him being of academia; he was obviously used to his words being heard and listened to.

In reply, the seated man gave a very slight nod, "Indeed, Professor. It seems that establishing NERV was not wasted, although it is not as if any doubt existed. The Angels have come, and it seems that the Military is incapable of stopping them." His tone was far colder than that of the other. Being in command was quite obviously this man's specialty, and he had no qualms about expressing that. Not only would his word be heard and listened to, it would be _obeyed._

As if to deny this statement (perhaps even to do so), one of the uniformed officers standing in the middle of the control center, a member of the trio clad in the royal blue and silver trappings of the Netopian Army, gave a rather loud order to the technicians who were running the various consoles about the room, "I've seen enough of this! Deploy the Upsilon Team!" The voice here indicated that he was used to his commands being followed, but it had not the power of the seated man's.

In comparison, it was that of a petulant yet spoiled child, really, but it certainly elicited a response from his companions, ranging from an, "Are you mad!?" from his left to the hesitant, "yes sir" that came from several of the techs.

Turning to the one who had so well pointed out--err, so insulted his mental state, the man who had issued the order bellowed a rather cliché response, "There's no other choice, damnit! We can't let that thing get any further... If it finds the connection to our server, our research will all be lost!" Never mind the lives of all the poor city residents you're sworn to protect, right, you heartless bastard?

"A man so dedicated to the people of the country he is sworn to protect, eh Ikari?" came the none-too-quiet reply of the academic, obviously directed more to the officer than to man to who he appeared to be speaking. The latter proved his apathy by barely nodding, but it was an insult felt rather heavily by the Military man.

"Ha! Like you NERV dolts can talk! One Upsilon Team is done, you won't even have a job left! Now deploy them, Goddamn you!" The latter bit was obviously directed towards the still rather hesitant technicians, and it motivated them. With a rather resigned sigh and a quick glance at the man who had been addressed as "Ikari" from several, they began the process of activating and releasing the team of specially made navis known as the Upsilon Team.

Said team was comprised of twelve navis, none of them _appearing _to be anything special. But, as they hoped to soon prove, the twelve navis were a cut above the rest. Appearing in a loose semi-circle around the intruder, a good distance before it, all were already in combat mode. Within a special chamber of the base above, the twelve humans who operated these navis had entered into special pods that were designed to increase their synchro rates; they would need that added power...

Almost in complete unison, the twelve each slotted a sequence of five Battle Chips into their PETs, sending the data to the navis of the Upsilon Team. Soon, the right arms of all twelve morphed first into red boxy guns, then into larger Golden Versions a second or so after. In unison themselves, these navis called out, "Program Advance: Omega Cannon Three, ACTIVATE!"

With that, all fired their cannons in tandem, the golden energy beams within rocketing towards the undaunted attacker. The beams struck within a second of each other, and the explosion from it was enough to push all of the navis in the semi-circle back several cyber meters, despite their lack of close proximity.

Back in the control center, chaos was beginning to unfold once more, but this time the chaos of cheers and celebratory remarks. Then there was the bragging from the man who'd ordered the attack; "Ha! You see, Ikari! Not even Alpha Omega itself could survive that blast! I guess you're out of a j--"

But, of course, this happy chaos wasn't to last long; the scarlet beam emerged from the smoke surrounding what _should_ have been the destroyed navi. Striking the center navi in the semi-circle, the cross detonation effect took out the ones to either side as well. And then it was upon the others; materializing almost unphased behind the leftmost navi of the array, it closed its claw-like grip over the back of her head and rammed its energy piledriver entirely through, deleting her almost instantaneously. But rather than simply letting her exploding body fall, he instead threw the self-destructing female navi into the next in line, causing him to fall, and subsequently be smashed beneath the pointed foot of the intruder, who was now standing over him, having taken out two on the other side with another shot of the cross beam before jumping.

Within a matter of seconds, six of the twelve 'elite' Upsilon Team had been reduced to data scraps, and due to the higher than normal synch ratios in effect, their operators had collapsed unconscious--or worse--in their pods after screaming for a second or two. But still, the other six weren't quite dead yet. And they wouldn't go down without a battle! Well, that much went for the remaining five, at least; in the time it took them to prepare a counterattack, a seventh had fallen to the relentless attack of the intruder. But because they did have time to prepare, their attack came before it finished destroying their comrade; all materializing glowing cyberswords over their right hands, they preformed a _de facto_ Evil Cut technique.

That is to say that two warped to the immediate right and left of the attacker, then slashed their blades down across it as if to create a "V" as two more did this from behind, creating an overall "X." As for the final member, she materialized directly in front of the dark green navi, bringing down her longer blade (a Paladin sword) for what would be a clean bisection down the center.

Against a conventional foe, this would have been a brilliant tactic, and in fact very few navis could have survived it. But then, as the Omega Cannon barrage before had shown, this intruder was no conventional netnavi. Thus, it really ought have come as no surprise when all five of the blades smashed into an invisible force at perhaps a cyber-decameter away from the target, at each shattered due to the force of its own strike. What followed could be described simply with the word, "pwnage," but I think I'll detail it anyway.

Lashing out with its full form, the intruder rammed the female member who had used the paladin sword, passing completely through her body as the force of her collision with its force field shattered and deleted her as easily as it had the swords. Next, it spun, wrapping claws around the necks of the two closest cross-slashers. Spinning again, it released them with enough force to fly into the other two, extending its piledrivers just as they were let go to cause them to begin to delete. As they impacted their companions, said companions were forced together in the center of the navi's field of view, making them ideal targets for the scarlet beam, which caused their deletion before they realized it had been fired.

In effect, the twelve 'elite' navis that had been prepared to destroy any threat to the complex had been deleted in under twenty seconds by a single opponent. This was too much for the Netopian Military commander, who slumped noticeably, his breathing increasing as he seemed ready to hyperventilate. Not wanting to lose even more face from such a show, the third of the trio, with a scowl, turned to the man seated at the desk and bit out in a hateful tone, "Fine, Ikari; you have your chance! I wish you the damnedest of luck with it!"

And, with that remark, the platform the officers were on descended, allowing the center man's display of shock to be supplanted as the most watched item in the room; now all eyes were turned to the man sitting silently at his desk. It seemed that this man, known as Gendo Ikari, was expected now to deliver a miracle; he was now to be the one responsible for stopping this intruder...

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Author's Notes

First off, I must establish the blame for this evil. It is Lauren's fault entirely! -shot- But, in all seriousness, a friend of mine, Lauren, gave me the idea for this last night while we were discussing something Eva-ish and EXE, and although I usually don't condone crossovers, the ideas 'cept building up in my mind, and since I've _really_ been trying to get something written and this came easily to me, I couldn't pass it up, especially since I already now have a great deal of the plot conceptualized. I do really want to do the Fourth Movement of _An Angelic Scenario_ and I probably owe _Amore Con Brio_ a chapter, but like I said, I just had to write when I was inspired.

If you don't get it yet, this is an Eva reimagining set in the EXE world. If my introduction didn't adequately explain EXE, you can see the site in my profile or just look around for Battle Network Rockman.exe or Mega Man Battle Network. It's a superb series, and although nothing at all like Eva in plot, it has enough similar concepts otherwise that I think I can pull this off. And although I may reference some Events from EXE6, I'm going to play this as if copyroid technology was outlawed and eradicated utterly, as navis in the real world destroys the premise of EXEstuffs. And this is, plot wise, strictly game-based. I despise the EXE anime with a passion, and the manga isn't too much better.

But yes, please review, but if you're going to attack the crossoverness, please don't bother. It's not like I dropped characters from one world in the other without adapting them. The story is basically written as if the Eva characters were all natives of the EXE world. And I do have a suitable replacement for Instrumentality, just so you know. If you've played EXE5, you should know what it is. And suggestions will be taken into consideration. Oh, and, of course there will be some serious storyline differences, despite it being based around that of Eva.

Edit (7/26/07): I went through and corrected some of the more grievous errors, as this was the only Movement I didn't use Lauren's Beta Checking on the first time.


	2. Second Movement: Arrival

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Second Movement

"Arrival"

Elsewhere in NERV HQ, a young boy and a woman were hopelessly lost. Well, not _hopelessly, _per se; they just had the map upside down, courtesy of the woman, who, despite having hair cast with a purple hue, was obvious what one might refer to as "a blonde at heart." Certainly the rest of her was similar to the stereotypical 'dumb blonde,' having rather impressive cleavage, an overall superb body, and so on. But it might be a bit rash to judge Miss Katsuragi simply on her getting lost this once and get having a highly attractive form, so don't assume, kay?

Anyway, as the duo passed through an open bridge on the mechanical conveyance system they were using and the woman made a complain about why she couldn't wear skirts here, the boy looked up from the manual he had been reading and sighed slightly, "Misato, are you _sure_ you know where we're going? We've passed this spot five times now..."

With a whimsical smile, the purple-haired major nodded, "Of course! Besides, these things are made to be used, aren't they?"

Sighing as his fears were confirmed, the boy, whose age could be said to be circa sixteen, was about to make some rather resigned reply when a door on the far side (or rather the near side, as they had now crosses the bridge) of the open-air section slid open with a slight _whump_ and a hiss of air release. From within, some white smoke (steam?) was expelled, but it was allowed no time to be observed, as the voice that sliced through the cheer of the situation and its owner were quick to command the attention of the two, "...Major Katsuragi, you are extremely late. Your presence in the control center was requested over an hour ago. This is _not _the time to be screwing around."

Said owner, although actually blonde (probably bleach, from the hue...) and also quite attractive, was nothing at all like the first. Her demeanor was far more serious of that than that of the woman she addressed as Katsuragi, her face taunt and focused, her hair was worn in a much more economical fashion, and her attire, far from the casual and mildly distasteful outfit of the Major, was strictly business. It mostly consisted of a large white lab coat, with a conservative shirt of the same dark navy color which seemed to by the choice for NERV officials. Her tone was cold, almost biting, and it was, like the older man with Ikari's, the type of voice was used to being heard and listened to. Combined with the attire, this would mark her as a scientist.

In a voice that was far lighter, the other woman, the one who had gotten lost, replied, "Aw, relax Ritsuko. I was just showing Shinji here around the base. Besides, I got him here, didn't I?" Of course, this argument wouldn't hold air, never mind water, but she had to try, right?

With a rather vehement sigh of disgust, the blonde, Ritsuko Akagi, pushed the current topic to the side of her mind, trying to ignore the major's foolery. Instead, she focused on the brown-haired boy who looked much akin to the commander, minus the beard and with a more rounded face, "So, this is the Third, then? One can certainly see the family resemblance... But we can talk later. At the moment, we're needed in the Control Center, so come on." With that, not noticing (or perhaps just not caring about) the slight expression of pain that crossed the blue-eyed boy's face at the mention of family resemblances, she turned on her heel and briskly walked back down the hallway she had come in through, giving neither the major nor the boy a chance to get further words in.

Sighing dejectedly, Misato followed the blonde, with the boy, Shinji, trailing her slightly. Both were far enough behind the scientist that the former was able to quietly mutter to the second, "And that's Ritsuko Akagi. She's the top scientist here, and as you can see, she doesn't have much of a sense of humor."

Nodding absentmindedly, the boy was obviously paying more mind to his thoughts than to the well-endowed major who was walking near him, which was rather strange in said major's eyes. Very few were so able to simply ignore her, unless of course they knew her fairly well. "Shinji...?"

Finally turning his attention to her, and not looking extremely happy, he inquired slowly, "M-misato, Dr. Akagi knows my father, doesn't she?" Ah, so it was the similarity thing that was eating at him... Judging from the negative reactions to anything concerning his father, it was quite obvious to Misato that he still held animosity towards the elder man. Something she could sympathize with, really...

But that wasn't something to thing about. No matter how justified he might be in not liking Gendo Ikari, she knew that it would be vital that the two get along. But, she'd better respond to his question, and certainly not with the full truth; it wouldn't be good for him to hate Rits just because she was his father's lover... Thus, with a slow nod, she replied carefully, "Yeah, as the head of Project E, she spends a lot of time with the First Commander. As you probably know, he's somewhat of a scientist himself..."

To this, Shinji slowly nodded also, but then he blinked, "What's Project E? I saw it in the book, but it didn't give any details." Of course he would be curious, but was he also trying to deliberately change the subject? Certainly understandable, but--ack!

Nearly walking headlong into Ritsuko, who had stopped to slide her laminated NERV Id card through another door, Misato mentally cursed her distracted state with vehemence. Managing to avert the collision, the purple-haired woman was unable to avoid looking like an idiot to a degree, flailing as she forced herself off to the side. At least she didn't fall, being able to catch herself upon the wall of the hallway. Still, she could practically _feel_ Shinji's opinion of her drop further as he stood behind her, blinkingly at her predicament. He had, of course, easily stopped in time, having been focused on awaiting her reply.

As the door slid open with another _whump_ and hiss, it was not Misato who answered, however, but rather Ritsuko, her tone holding some cynical amusement, "Don't worry yourself Third Child; you'll certainly find out about the Project soon enough. Now come on, we have an appointment with your father." Again, his dark look at the mention of his father was ignored or unnoticed by the woman as she lead the way out into the Control Center of NERV.

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Stepping out into the large room after Ritsuko, Shinji's mind automatically registered the presence inhabiting the highest portion of the room. In a desperate attempt to avoid having to confront said presence, he automatically began to scan and take stock of the rest of the room. Overall, it was a large semicircle, the curved side mostly made of a set of quite large monitors, almost all of them showing scenes of the destruction that was unfolding in the Network of the city above. Below this, at a series of consoles and most typing furiously, sat a number of technicians in navy-and-red NERV uniforms. Almost all of them looked grim, and not a few seemed to throw glances in the direction Shinji was attempting to avoid looking.

Most of the rest of the room's outer crescent was clear, although to stations behind the technicians' sat empty; likely belonging to those currently in Shinji's company. Going further inward from this, there seemed to be a set of doors concealing some sort of tunnel (an elevator, maybe?) at the front of the elevated inner section, which was also semi-circular, or at least a semi-oval. Like the rest of the chamber, it was very undecorated for the most part, being made of a metal that seemed to be painted the exact shade of blue as the uniforms.

Leading up to the platform at the top of the inner section were two curving staircases which ran from the ground level near the sides of the room to the front of platform. Around the edge of the platform itself ran a frail railing, more to show where the edge was than to actually keep anyone on, it seemed, and upon the wall behind the area was a large crimson emblem. For the most part, it was a circle, with the letters "NE" and "RV" on subsequent lines, their flow together interrupted by a half-fig leaf occupying the other half of the circle. Below this, running in a semicircular fashion, was the barely readable text, "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world."

And now, with everything else in the room exhausted and his own moment being directed towards the platform by the two females he had entered with, the boy was left with no alternative but to examine the contents of the platform itself. The primary fixture seemed to be a large black desk, its surface dotted with neat piles of paper, each seeming to have its own value. And behind it, to the right of its occupant stood an older man, his hair graying, but otherwise in seemingly excellent health. And finally, sitting behind the desk was the man whom Shinji truly did not wish to acknowledge.

Unfortunately, it was rather hard to ignore him at this point; the two now stood across the desk from each other, and it was obvious that there was going to be conversation of some sort between them. So, with a sigh, Shinji Ikari raised his blue eyes to meet his father's for a moment, "F-father..." Of course, he couldn't hold the gaze long; that cold and apathetic visage which had condemned him to a loveless approximation of life for the majority of his years alive. Still, he did manage to add in a somewhat resentful, "Why did you call me back here now? I thought you didn't want me...!"

Looking at his son across the desk, Gendo Ikari frowned slightly, noting that all eyes in the room were currently on their little exchange. Why did his son have to be such a 'drama queen,' as they'd say? Such scenes would _defiantly_ have to stop. And it looked like he'd be putting up some resistance, too. Damnit, why couldn't people ever just do what they were supposed to? ...still, at least he was fairly certain that he could manipulate the boy now; he obviously hadn't hardened, and unless Gendo was seriously misjudging the boy, he would be able to use Ayanami's condition to force him into operating. Excellent, considering that if Shinji refused to operate the Evangelion, there was a good chance they were all going to die, and that was most certainly _not_ in the scenario.

With his frown concealed, Gendo betrayed no worry in his voice, only cold conviction, "You shouldn't ask pointless questions; you know the answer to that quite well. I sent for you because I now have a use for you. Come." With that, the elder Ikari stood, commenting to the older man, "Professor, finish up handling things here. We shall be in the Plug chamber."

Then, leaving no room for objection, he strode purposefully to a small elevator located to the side of the desk--it seemed to have just arrived, hence Shinji's inability to notice it the first time. With a resigned sigh, said boy began to follow his father, and was in turn followed by the two women and every eye in the room. Well, at least the latter ceased their pursuit as the man Gendo had left in charge ordered them to return to their work. Until the battle was joined, they needed to do everything in their power to contain the damage caused by the Angel, as well as to keep it out of the Neo III Server.

Stepping onto the elevator, the quartet remained silent; Gendo had nothing to say, Shinji was brooding a bit, as well as thinking about what 'use' his father could possibly now have for him, Ritsuko was mentally composing her speech to appraise the boy of the nature of the Eva, and Misato was incapable of thought--err, was also thinking about the situation; how would Shinji react to the task of being asked to operate the Eva? Could he even do it? And, even if he did, she had seen the displays in the other room; how was he supposed to fight something _that_ powerful with no prior experience whatsoever, when the Upsilon Team, the best in the business, had lost so easily?

As the platform began to descend, Ritsuko finally finished her internal considerations and addressed the others (well, Shinji, really. Wasn't like Misato and Gendo didn't know this stuff already...). In a tone as cool as before, but with less edge to it, rendering it more of a lecturer's tool, she began, "As you are aware, NERV is a research and development installation functioning as part of the Netopian Army, but directly sponsored by the UN. Our objectives are officially to research and develop more sophisticated synchronization technology. However, this is, for the most part, a front. Although our technology does function around synchronization, the goal of Project E, our most important work, was technically achieved years ago. At this point, our primary purpose of existence is to use this technology to protect Netopia, specifically at the juncture we have reached."

Pausing to catch her breath, she only gave Shinji long enough to assimilate the information before continuing, "As you saw from the Control Center, we are currently under attack from a enigmatic but extremely powerful group who call themselves the 'Angels.' It was discovered years ago that the Angels possess the technology to create a netnavi with the ability to project an Absolute Terror Field, or AT Field. Although the exact nature of these fields is unknown, they are extraordinary defensive shields, capable of stopping almost all forms of attack. Luckily, however, we have discovered samples of this technology from analysis of the Angels actions in the past and managed to adapt it well enough to create a navi able to project an AT Field of its own. This is Project Evangelion..."

As if timed exactly, at this point, the elevator reached an open space containing six elongated white cylinders, each resting diagonally between floor and ceiling. The one nearest the elevator seemed to be open, revealing a chair within it, some rather odd fluid, a PET-shaped port which seemed to be filled by a purple and green PET, and a holographic display in the air over it projected the form of a netnavi unlike any the boy had seen before.

For starters, unlike your average Netnavi, the purple-and-green projection had no human-esque face, as many navis were wont to. Rather, it seemed that the entire design was armored. Wide in the shoulder region and narrowing as it went lower, the design certainly wasn't, as they say, 'wimpy.' The main body was mostly purple, with some orange around the neck region and a rounded black diamond area in the center of the chest. Arms were also mostly purple, but with a couple of large green stripes. The shoulders were perhaps the second most peculiar part about the model; they were round, with black discs containing the green lettering "Eva-01" but this was not the odd part; from each extended an **L**-shaped structure, extending forward a slight bit and upward further. Both were black with green tips.

Finally, though, the head was the oddest structure. Encased in purple armor also, it was longer than it was wide, but the helmet seemed to flatten out into a three-quarters circle around mouth level. Mouth and the upper portion of the long, thin chin were a light blue, almost grey, but the chin ended in a green portion, and the mouth actually seemed to have prominent teeth. Further up on the head, eye slits were dark, but red lines encroached from them and into the armor around somewhat, almost looking like cracks in the covering of some malevolent fire. And last, but maybe most striking, a knife-like horn jutted up prominently from the center of the forehead. All in all, the design was quite imposing; it looked almost demonic.

By the time he had finished taking in this navi, the elevator had descended to the ground and Gendo disembarked. Shinji, however, was still gawking and blinking, and so Misato had to nudge him a bit to remove him from the square platform. Once he'd moved, he managed to avert his attention back to Ritsuko, who now commented, "The result of Project E: Evangelion Unit-01.exe."

Now, although Shinji blinked, he was also confused. Living with his teacher in Electopia for most of his life, although he certainly knew what a Netnavi was and the like, he had no experience at all with operating them; he'd never owned one in his life, and his lack of and real friends had kept him out of close contact with any (his teacher had been a quite old-fashioned man, obviously). Thus, one extremely vexing question was running through his mind, "...as interesting as all of this is, father, what does it have to do with why you brought me here?"

Before Ritsuko could respond, or Misato, for that matter, Gendo turned from his own staring at the navi's projection and replied, in a tone that betrayed nothing, "It has everything to do with it. You have been called here because you will operate Unit-01."

To say that this announcement took Shinji aback would be a great crime against the gravity of the shock experienced by the boy. Why would his father, a man of obvious means, contacts, power, and importance want someone like him, who he had deemed worthless in the past, to operate what was admittedly the fruit of a very great deal of work? Especially considering that he'd barely so much as said a word to a netnavi in the past. The closest he'd come to being an operator was to check his e-mail for school bulletins with a sub-PET. "W-why me...?" he managed to get out, before taking enough of a breath and stabilizing his thoughts enough to expound, "I've never used a netnavi in my life, and now you want me to operate this thing against that...monster!? I don't even know _how_ to operate a navi!"

To this, Ritsuko resumed the narrative, replying handily, as if she had seen this coming (which she almost surely had), "That doesn't matter. The Evangelion is by no means a conventional netnavi. A conventional navi is an AI construct which takes orders from its operator by command. However, a skilled operator can reach the point where they are in full Synchronization with their navi, in which case the navi begins to run off the operator's thoughts. It was intentional that only highly skilled netops could reach Full Synchronization, because in a synchronized state, the operator's mind can perceive damage to the navi as damage to itself, and thus it is dangerous. However, a netnavi running on full synchronization is far more powerful in battle than a navi operated normally."

Pausing, she smirked proudly as she indicated the holographic display, "The Evangelion, however, is a netnavi designed to run _entirely_ on full synchronization, with no conventional operation possible. In effect, it lacks an AI mind, and so the operator in effect _becomes_ the navi. Thus, your inexperience is actually a boon to operating an Eva; you have no normal operating habits to overcome. Moreover, though, your profile has indicated to us that you would make an ideal operator."

Now, although Shinji was able to understand this, his confusion was quickly replaced with another negative feeling anger. "So that means that if I operate it... I'll take all the damage it takes!? That's insane!"

Now it was Gendo who answered again, "Negative. The Evangelion's AT Field will allow you to avoid taking damage, even against such a powerful opponent. Moreover, it is irrelevant whether you pilot it in that regard. If the Angel breaches the inner reaches of the NERV Server, this structure will enter lockdown and a self-destruct will initiate. However, if you still do not wish to pilot, then we will have to use Rei again. She's not dead yet, and I will not tolerate your cowardice."

Right on cue, two steel doors on a wall perpendicular to the one which their elevator was located against slide open with a hiss, allowing a stretcher to be rolled it. The person on it was barely visible due to bandages and seemed to be connected to an IV drip, neither being good signs of especially good health. As it was rolled closer, Shinji realized that, even if it hadn't been for the highly peculiar circumstances, the occupant was not one to soon forget. Her hair was a light shade of blue, not especially well kept, and partially covered by a bandage worn over one eye. When the other eye opened, though, he noted with surprise that it was red. That combined with her light skin made him wonder in a detached part of his mind if she was an albino. The blue hair didn't seem dyed, though, so maybe not; either way, even in this state, she was hardly an eyesore, especially after years of living in Electopia, where people tended to look very similar.

With a contemptuous glance at Shinji, Gendo addressed the girl in the stretcher, "Rei, you're going to have to do it again. Our spare is unusable."

And, despite the fact that every conscious breath seemed to be paining her, to judge from her facial expression, and that any movement was pure agony, she did her best to nod her head. Attempting to raise herself off the stretcher, the girl gasped in pain, her voice extremely quiet, even with such a sound. Sweat literally seemed to soak the skintight white suit which she wore, and it poured off her face like a deluge. _This_ was the person who would have to pilot in his stead!?

And then came a rather convenient explosion, which shook the room rather badly, almost as if a small-scale earthquake had occurred. It seemed that the Angel had managed to hit something that connected to something that went "explodey" in a big way. More to the point, though, combined with the blue-haired girl's struggle to rise off the stretcher, it caused said stretcher to capsize, spilling the unfortunate quasi-albino out onto the floor whilst most of the room's other occupants were tossed about a bit.

Ritsuko was able to steady herself against the terminal next to the open cylinder, which she had been preparing to operate, Gendo seemed as unruffled as ever, calmly adjusting his glasses, Misato managed to slump back against the wall, and Shinji, being near nothing, nearly fell over. In fact, he might have had not instinct already brought him to his knees before the fallen girl. Although he didn't know who she was, she was obviously in pain, probably being used by his father, and her condition had obviously not been helped at all by the fall. Picking her up in his arms, the boy directed an expression of pure loathing at his estranged father.

Regardless of the fact that it was probably hurting her more than helping, he held her a bit more tightly, and was a bit surprised (but pleased) to see her face lighten ever so slightly as she gazed up at him with her one unhindered eye, then slipped into a state of semi-consciousness. She obviously couldn't operate anything, but if he didn't do it, his father was going to make her anyway. Damn him straight to hell! Taking a deep breath, Shinji faced the man who was responsible for this, substituted anger for courage or resolve, and spoke, "Fine, I'll operate it!"

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Author's Notes

Phew. This took me a _lot_ longer to actually write than my usual stuff. Often, I'll spend a few days or weeks putting off writing, but then actually do it in an hour or two straight. In this case, due to the somewhat monotonous nature of the writing and my unsureness, I actually wrote it off-and-on over the last two or three days, interlaced with RPing and other stuffs. Also, my character portrayals are still a bit of a grey area, so if I did anything majorly wrong, do point it out. Except the two or three bits of attacking Misato; they're just jokes, so don't take them too seriously, please. And I realize that things were a bit more open, but Gendo is playing some cards a bit differently this time; he knew it was safe to reveal the truth to Shinji via Ritsuko because there was no way he was leaving; either he operated or they all died via self destruct. And I also have him being a bit more overtly manipulative, just to note; the depth of it will become more clear next chapter. And of course, Ritsuko's explanation was incomplete. More will be learned as time goes on.

Now, to address my reviewers- YAY! Good reviews! -ish a happy insane Imperialist now- To answer a few of the questions presented; well, as Ritsuko explained, the Evas are a type of navi operated entirely through synchronizing. I'm pretty sure that, for non-NERV dealings, they'll be operated at a lower synch level and possibly disguised as a more normal navi type, although if so, it'll eventually come out, especially once people start seeing Shinji's and the other Children's battles. Oh, and Kaworu is probably going to end up coming much earlier and operating Unit-03 because it fits with the altered plot for that part that I'm weaving in my mind.

And yes, there will defiantly be some EXE characters showing up in later Movements, especially Enzan. I have a pretty major role setup for him because he fits well with everything and his personality will work well, as well as his job. I also have a bit of a larger role for SEELE in mind. But now I'm giving too much away. So, I'll move on to other points to reply to; the tech. Most of the Eva-specific technology will be described in the context of the story, such as the way Rits described the Eva's operation method, but if there's anything about the underlying technology you want to know more about, ask and I'll include explanationstuffs in my next authors' notes. I'd go into an explanation of it all right now, but it's 1:15 AM and I want to get this up sometime soon.

So, here is the second movement. Very dull, very long, and very necessary, I fear. Enjoy, hate, etc. Please do review, though. I'd love more to the order of the first and third ones that I received!


	3. Third Movement: Preparations

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Third Movement

"Preparations"

Upon hearing the boy's declaration, Ritsuko smirked slightly, Misato looked rather worried, and Gendo simply nodded. As if knowing this was to happen all along, the latter said after a moment, "Very well, then. Major Katsuragi, you will oversee Rei's return to the infirmary. Dr. Akagi, prepare Unit-01 for operation and instruct the Third Child in its usage." Then, without any word as to his own intentions, the brown-haired man returned to the elevator, pressing the control that would take it back up. It seemed he would await them in the Control Center.

A second later, the two women also began to go about their duties, Ritsuko obviously moving faster, as she was already at the console she would require and because she was far less surprised by the turn of events. Before beginning to enter commands into the console, she beckoned Shinji in her direction, a moment after which Misato scurried over and held out her arms to take possession of the girl. But Shinji seemed a bit disinclined to relinquish her, his anger still overriding his generally submissive nature. Without a word, he stood (with visible effort, due to the added weight) and returned the blue-haired girl to the stretcher himself, before finally walking over to Ritsuko.

Unfortunately for him, looking again at the purple navi, with a much higher proximity this time, caused much of his anger to drain. How was _he_ supposed to operate this thing? But still, he'd said he would, and it wasn't like there was much choice in the matter. Clenching and unclenching his fist slightly as he took a deep breath, he finally managed to inquire, "W-what do I do now?"

The former's smirk having now been replaced with hard-set determination, considering that they were now on to the truly hard part, and the scientist was all business. Indicating the open pod with her head, not wanting to interrupt her typing, she replied, "Get in. Once you're inside and the system is setup, I'll give you the rundown on operating it."

Still typing, she awaited him to do just this, which he did in a very hesitant fashion, trying to avoid touching the yellowish liquid which seemed to coat the bottom. Once he had seated himself within, a keystroke caused the door to slide shut with a hiss, and the plug began to fill with the liquid. Panicking and thinking he would drown, Shinji get out a little scream, but was quickly forced to abandon it in favor of holding his breath as the substance quickly filled the chamber past his face. Flailing around, he attempted to find an exit posthaste, at least until Ritsuko's calm voice came through the comm. system, a ghost of a smile accompanying it, although unobservable, "Relax. You can still breathe; once your lungs are adjusted, the LCL will oxygenate your blood directly and help with synchronization."

Although he didn't _really_ believe the woman, there seemed nothing else to do. Drowning wouldn't be such a bad way to die, or so Shinji hoped as he opened his mouth, expecting the liquid to fill his lungs and bring death to him. Thus, he was quite surprised as, although the blood-tasting fluid did overtake him, he was able to breathe quite well. After a moment, his surroundings seemed to flash slightly, and suddenly it didn't even look like he was in fluid anymore. And, despite the awful coppery taste of the liquid, he almost found it comforting... until Ritsuko's voice sliced through his thoughts in the manner of one-thousand shards of glass, "Good, now I'm going to begin the linkup. First though, turn on the PET in the consol. Although we'll be using the plug to augment your synchronization, the primary link is through the PET."

As the boy complied, his mind brought back to the harsh reality of the situation, it flickered on. Although a "Setup" screen popped up, it quickly passed as keystrokes from Ritsuko's computer entered the information at nigh-mach speeds. Once that was done, an operating menu and an image of the navi popped up on the screen. Across the top of the screen ran the text, "Evangelion Unit-01.exe." To the right, said menu ran down the screen, offered choices about E-mail, music, battle chip data, navi status, sub-chips, programs, routines, and the like, and the other two-thirds of the screen was occupied by a graphic of the navi, statistics, and diagnostics.

This was all also quickly replaced, of course, as Ritsuko's remote access was used to select several options in quick succession. After a second or two, its screen was covered in a window that seemed to contain text, a percentage-complete bar (still on 0), and several buttons. Since the text was titled instructions, and was obviously meant to be read, Shinji began to do as such, digesting the instructions for synchronization, even as Ritsuko's voice added. "Good, now I'm going to start nerve linkups. This will definitely feel a bit odd."

By now, the bar was going up as Ritsuko ran through the nerve connections, brainwave transference, and then finally ran the actual synchro program within the PET. This would hopefully be the only time she would have to do the last; once the Eva had synchronized with him, unless he died, a link between the two would remain. Of course, that was all to be dealt with later; she had a job to do. Running through the program, she effectively completed the process. Thus, since the other connections and enhancements had been activated before it, just as Shinji finished reading his instructions for operating the navi, his world literally fell out from under him.

One second, he was sitting in the odd cylinder that Ritsuko had called a 'plug,' the next he was in some sort of tank. Looking around, he happened to glance at his hands...and gasped in shock. They were...purple?! And the arms seemed to be armored, also purple and green--God in Heaven, he had _become_ the navi! Panicking again, he looked about as if to question if this was reality when the cool voice came through again, "I warned you that it would feel odd. Normally, you would only control the navi by thinking of what you wanted it to do, but for severe combat situations, this system makes it far more effective. Whatever you will yourself to do, the navi will do. And you are not as limited in this state as you would be by your physical body." Pausing a moment, the doctor hit a key, causing the tank surrounding the purple fiend to become transparent, "Now, to help you adjust, you will start by breaking out of the tank."

Then she went silent, obviously expecting him to figure out the rest by himself. Shinji, of course, was fairly sure he couldn't, but would try anyway, as he'd been ordered to. Sighing slightly, he drew back 'his' purple armored fist and hit the armored cyber glass. It was a weak shot, and the glass didn't even shake. Wincing slightly, he tried twice more without success and was prepared to make a third hit when Ritsuko finally spoke again, after a sigh, "Shinji, I told you, this is _not_ your body. Just because _you_ couldn't break it does not mean that the Eva can't. Now hit it harder."

With another sigh, the body tried again. First, he visualized the navi as he had seen it previously; powerful, imposing, demonic. He _was_ this thing, and he had its power. No longer was he simply a useless little boy that no one wanted. Now he was this powerful beast, the only one capable of saving everyone, even his father! As he thought this, images of a person he hated slipped into his mind. Not his father, but another brown-haired boy around his age; Netto Hikari.

Having lived much of his life in Electopia, he had heard much about the young hero; enough to make him despise the other boy...and enough to make Shinji wish that he could be him. He had everything; friends, fame, a powerful navi, a loving family... And now Shinji's mind perceived that maybe he could get those things now; if he saved them all, he'd be a hero too, and even his father would have to acknowledge him. He would finally be worth something. And now this glass wall was a barrier between him and everything he wanted; it _had_ to be destroyed!

Thus, not realizing quite what he was doing, he slammed his fist into it. _Crack!_ And again, and again, and again, until nothing remained of it but data fragments. Looking around and feeling like he should be panting in the aftermath, the boy felt amazed. _He_ had done this! The unconscious train of thoughts which had led him to be able to muster such fervor in his attack was now quieting a bit, and he began to feel somewhat uncertain again, however.

Regardless, a small window popped up on the lower left region of his field of vision, transferring to him Ritsuko's slight self-satisfied smirk as well as her voice when she commented, "Excellent. You seem to have grasped the basic concept of using the Eva, but don't celebrate yet. Now I want you to try walking."

Nodding, his face still adorned with uncertainty, the boy willed one leg to move, and he took his first step. Unfortunately, though, as he focused on the other, he managed to completely lose balance, causing him to fall on his face. And, despite the navi's armor, it still rather hurt, "Ouch..."

Sighing again, Ritsuko shook her head slightly, "You're thinking too hard about it. You don't move your legs like that when you walk in the real world, do you? Don't think about it; just do it." With another sigh, the blonde woman wondered again why the hell the Commander had waited until now to bring the boy here; would it have hurt _that_ much to have had time to train him? This was pathetic!

With a frown, and considering her words, Shinji managed to stand up without incident, but once he focused again on trying to walk, he had more trouble balancing again, and looked extremely awkward, all the while as the navi above continued to decimate the city. "Damnit, Shinji, just get to the warp over there! We don't have time for this!"

Cringing slightly, the boy nodded, then did his best to locate the warp point she had indicated. Seeing it, he unconsciously began to walk towards it, not realizing that as he did so, there was no trouble at all. Ritsuko was forced to stifle a smile at this; she knew that would distract him. Hopefully, once he got into combat, instinct and fear for his life would make him unable to have time to think too much about his movements, thus allowed them to be far more efficient. Combat... damn! She'd forgotten to tell him! "Shinji, wait. One more thing. You remember what I told you about the AT Field?" Seeing him nod slowly, she replied hurriedly, "Good. In order to activate it, you need to focus on your individuality and forcefully want to keep things away from you."

Then, pressing a key, she caused a Mettuar, a small virus that consisted mostly of a yellow helmet marked with a green cross and a pickax to materialize in front of him, not three cyber meters away. Without any warning, the virus struck the floor of the net before it with said ax, causing an energy shockwave to shoot towards the navi across said ground. Without really thinking about it, only wanting to stop the shockwave, he raised his hands as if to stave it off... and gasped in surprise at the energy was deflected off an invisible force field, causing a slight reddish ripple where it had hit.

Blinking slightly, he came to the realization that this must have been intentional; an example of the AT Field in action. But now he had another problem, even as the shield seamlessly took another hit, "Um, Dr. Akagi... H-how am I supposed to fight? I don't have any weapons."

Ritsuko shook her head, "You do have one. This may sound odd, but I want you to imagine that your left shoulder is hollow, and that it's opening up." Blinking in confusion, he did so, and shockingly, the projection on it _did_ flip open, revealing a knife's handle within. This rather took him aback, and he was thusly not thinking of protecting himself when the next shockwave struck, passing the now non-existent AT Field and striking the navi. A rather painful experience, even with the armor.

But, managing to recover enough to jump to the side when the next came, an unnecessary action considering that his AT Field had been restored by the return of his attention to defending himself, he decided that the knife was obviously intended to be his weapon. Drawing it with his right hand, he willed the shoulder to close up before looking at the virus. Its 'body' was presumably the shadowed mass bearing eyes beneath the helmet, and it only really came up to his knee, so he decided he'd take it out the easy way; running at it, he made a jump (which took him considerably higher than he had expected) as he reached it, stabbing the knife under the helmet as he crouched to begin. Thus, by the time he landed, it had finished deleting, leaving a small chip of data in its wake; data that was ignored by Shinji, who had other things to think about now.

Although the jump had been surprisingly easy to make, it was not that which occupied his thoughts, but rather the fact that his knife was glowing. Noting his confusion, Ritsuko quickly supplied, "It's called a progressive knife. It's a weapons program designed to penetrate an AT Field using ultrasonic vibrations. Now hurry. The Angel is getting closer to the NERV server, and I doubt the military can distracted it much longer."

Nodding, the reality of the situation once more fresh in his mind (it seemed to slip away easily due to the fantastic nature of the whole affair), he began to move towards the warp again, having only very slight difficulties and reaching it within a few seconds. Not really knowing what to expect, he took a deep breath and stepped into the glowing circle upon the floor of the nondescript area.

For a moment, all was black, then he felt the cyber world around him return--only now he stood upon a large cyber-building's roof, the warp he had entered by still glowing. It seemed that he had been brought directly to the city's net area, which was obviously programmed to visually simulate the city itself. On an average day, it might have been an attractive sight (or site, maybe?), but the Angel's presence belayed that. Rather, it was a madhouse of smoke, fires, viruses (who had moved in to take advantage of the severely weakened defenses), and other sorts of destruction stretched out below him. And, moving purposefully towards the building upon which he stood was the monster; Sachiel, the Third Angel. Despite the proof of numerous attempts to destroy it in the remains of several hundred navis and severe damage in its path, it bore not a mark.

As if to underscore the seeming invincibility of said Angel, an official netnavi ran out into its path even as Shinji looked one. Calling out the phrase "JusticeOne," presumably as its operator slotted in the chip of the same name, it raised a hand above its head. Forming above it now was an immense blue and white fist, and as the navi made a downward sweeping motion with its hand, the fist rocketed towards the Angel. As the impact occurred, a large area of the city was deleted or damaged by the force of the attack, but when the data fragments cleared, the navi could be seen to be holding off the fist with its own clawed hand. Then, flashing scarlet, the piledriver on the arm rammed against the fist several times, causing it to fracture and explode, leaving no mark at all on its intended victim.

Without breaking its slow and purposeful stride, the Angel now took revenge for the attempt to delete it; the scarlet beam lanced from its chest, deleting the assailant almost instantly. This, of course, left Shinji gasping in horror; he had seen a slight bit of its ability from the Control Center, but he hadn't at all grasped its true power. This monster, merciless, dauntless, and seemingly indestructible was what he had to fight?

His first reaction was to panic, but it was quickly subdued as he noticed Ritsuko's face watching him; cool, calculating and appraising. This woman, much like his father, would be quick to deem him worthless if he couldn't do what he'd promised. And then there was Gendo himself; the man would never look at him again if he backed out, even if they somehow lived through it. And then there was the girl he'd seen; she certainly didn't deserve to die because he wouldn't fight at all. Of course, this was all nearly subconscious; all he really felt on the surface was the same anger that had welled upon the tank. Not fully understanding why, his mind simply acknowledged that the Angel must be destroyed, at all costs. Besides, he was going to die anyway, so what did it matter how...?

Thus, taking one final breath, he focused on the Angel, raised his AT Field, prepared the Progressive Knife, and leapt from the building...

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Author's Notes

This Movement was originally going to contain the battle between Unit-01 and Sachiel, but it just kept coming, and since I'm usually starved for stuff to make my stuff of decent length, I was glad to oblige. As a result, though, I think I'm going to at least start on the Fourth Movement now. But first, a few quick notes; if you think Shinji is a bit OoC with the rages, you're probably right, but I'm not going to give away the reason yet, even though you can probably guess it easily enough. Another thing I forgot to mention last Movement, I decided to up the ages of the Children by two years to make proper romance a bit more possible in later chapters, for the most part, but also because I don't think they look or act fourteen in the anime or manga. And, as you can probably tell, if I do finish this, it's going to take a damn long time. I actually enjoy writing it, though, so hopefully it'll keep going for quite a while. Also, as a quick note, I doubt I'll be doing much on An Angelic Scenario soon, because I've lost a lot of my interest in that idea whilst gaining a lot in this. Also, even though I don't like asking like this, I'd really appreciate reviews. Even though I mostly write for myself, I'd like to know that it at least interests other people...


	4. Fourth Movement: En Garde

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Fourth Movement

"_En Garde_"

Of course, the flying leap didn't bring Unit-01 down right upon the Angel; that would be foolish and silly. No, rather the purple netnavi landed perhaps twenty cyber meters in front of the monstrosity. Surprisingly, the landing went well, and it never ceased its motion, going directly into a run, the Progressive Knife facing its target for the attack. Dispassionately, the Angel prepared to deal with yet another assailant; even as the purple fiend raced towards it with an almost bestial posture, the scarlet beam lanced forth, intended to annihilate the oncoming navi. As soon as the beam was fired, its owner's attention was turned away, judging the target in its path destroyed.

This was a rather grievous error, of course, for with his own AT Field to deflect the offensive power of the cross-shaped energy weapon, Shinji was able to continue to run _through_ said attack. Not only did this take the Angel off guard due to his surviving at all, but with the smoke created by the beam, said survival went nearly unnoticed until he was nearly upon his foe. Not reducing speed at all prior to impact, the force of the collision then allowed the Progressive Knife to leave deep cracks in the AT Field it struck and drove partially through, but it also had a drawback in that, being unable to come to a full stop just from the impact, the full mass of Unit-01 was slammed against said weakened field.

The effects of this second impact were twofold. Firstly, it was enough to drive the Prog. Knife the rest of the way through the AT Field, shattering it. Secondly, and more unfortunately, it caused Unit-01 to lose most of its balance and stagger backward shaking its head. In the real world, Shinji felt somewhat faint and dizzy, his mind transferring most of the pain and ill effects to his physical body. Thus, he was not concentrating on his own AT Field, and it thus left existence as he tried to recover from the effects of the powerful collision.

Seeing its opponent falter, the Angel was quick to act; stepping forward, it took hold of the other navi's head in a claw and slammed the energy piledriver therein into the purple-armored helmet. Now, needless to say, despite the fact that the helmet wasn't as weak of a program as the heads that had been previously smashed this way, and thus took no actual damage, the pain from the impact was quite exquisite for the synchronized operator. But, rather than further debilitating him, it seemed to stir the rage from before. Even as the boy released a scream, an action that the Eva mirrored with a rawr (Shinji understandably noticed nothing of the fact that doing so appeared to have shattered a small part of the navi's own helmet), his fist clenched around the Prog Knife.

A moment and a pain-driven slam of the said knife later, a twisting of a blade not only interfered with the internal energy of the piledriver in said arm, it caused a small explosion which left the Angel missing a lower arm and Unit-01 free. Both momentarily staggering back, the latter's AT Field now reformed, pushing the 'disarmed' Angel back from the Eva. Not that this weakness in the former would last long; taking a backwards leap, it was already beginning to recreate the data of its arm, in effect regenerating the first damage it had taken all day. And, of course, it wasn't more than a few seconds later that its AT Field was able to reform also.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Gendo Ikari and the other occupants of the NERV Control Center were watching this with awe. Well, the latter were, at least. In Gendo, it was surprise, which was perhaps stronger than awe; in Gendo, and emotion that did surface must be extraordinarily powerful, and of the few that did, surprise was almost never one. But, despite being highly surprised, he outwardly appeared unphased, commenting to the man he had addressed on previous occasions as Professor, "This was certainly not in the scenario. However, it is not a totally unwelcome development, and regardless of if, I do not think the scenario will be significantly altered."

Nodding, the older man replied with a slightly worried expression, "Indeed. The Angel seems to be capable of complete regeneration, and unless the Third Child discovers how to neutralize its AT Field in a more permanent fashion, I do not believe that we need to be concerned about the possibility of him winning. Are you certain that our solution will work, though, Ikari? What if it is destroyed beforehand, or does not activate?"

"She _will_ activate, Fuyutsuki; have no doubt of that." Obviously, this signaled the end of their little exchange, although it hardly satisfied the older man. As much as he _wanted_ to have confidence in Gendo's scheme, it was so...implausible, maybe? But still, it wasn't like he could back out now. With an internal sigh that he dared not voice, he rejoined Ikari in focusing on the screens, not at all a hard task, considering their size. It seemed that the Angel had completed its regeneration, and was now about to go for a bit of revenge...

And indeed, a moment later, said revenge was manifest in the form of a more complex attack than it had used previously; it seemed to have updated its battle routines. First, firing a brief burst of the cross-beam, it created the illusion of intending to attack from the front. But, as soon as the beam was loosed, it instead leapt completely over the purple navi, catching the disoriented Shinji off-guard. Still having to deal with the blast from the beam, Unit-01 was unable to spin itself quickly enough to do so before the Angel had, and thus the latter was able to twist itself more quickly.

This done, it now stood behind the Evangelion Test Type. Without any further prelude, the Angel clamped its claws around the AT Field which impaired its goal of destroying the Eva within and began to ram the piledrivers in its arms against them. Unfortunately for Unit-01, the distraction of the triple-part attack and the force of the piledrivers overcame the defensive abilities possessed by the field in question. But, before the attacking Angel could exploit this, its adversary made a counter-play; spinning also, the Eva brought its Prog knife up and slashed it across the still not fully recovered AT Field of the Angel.

Next, hoping to end the battle before his inexperience got him killed, Shinji brought the knife back for a second hit. Now, this might have ended the battle and proved Gendo wrong...if he had aimed for the correct target. Unfortunately, though, humans imagine the head to be the best spot to target in order to bring down something, and thus the shining knife was thrust into the Angel's bizarre mask. Now, although this was damaging, it was not the fatal blow it might have been with another adversary; the weakness of an Angel is its core. Thus, although the damaged being staggered backwards, ripping the Prog knife out of the Eva's hand, it wasn't beaten.

If anything, it was stronger now; any curiosity or surprise had be superseded by anger. Tearing the offending weapon from its 'face,' the Angel cast it away then refocused on its target. Said target, having thought that it had won, was in an undefended state now. Its AT Field had yet to reform, nor had it the impulse, and the stance was a slump of exhaustion; Shinji still wasn't fully able to comprehend the tireless nature of the Eva, and thus he was still expecting fatigue. Expecting such things whilst operating a navi controlled purely by your thoughts is obviously most unfortunate for the one doing so.

Of course, the misfortune of the boy was the Angel's windfall. Thus, opting to act before its enemy was fully able to react to the miraculous survival it had affected, another instance of the scarlet energy weapon was initiated, lancing out and striking the Eva within a few milliseconds. Having not the time or inclination to prepare his AT Field, Shinji now felt a searing pain in his chest as the beam struck, launching him, or at least the navi which might as well be him, into the air and slamming him into the wall of a cyber-skyscraper perhaps twenty cyber meters away from the spot he had started in. A _highly_ painful experience, one would imagine.

Due to said intense pain, Unit-01 was understandable still incapacitated and resting in the impression that its impact had created when the Angel again leapt, this time arriving in front of its target. Things were certainly not looking up for the benighted sixteen-year-old, although he was managing to do so, which was a small plus; he was at least able to raise his weakened AT Field against the claws and piledrivers of the offending Angel. Still, this wouldn't last too long, as had been illustrated once already. He needed to _think_, and that was rather hard when his head seemed to be under the combined attack of several piledrivers of the loud, conventional sort. And, to make things worse, the rage that had fueled him this far was bleeding off and giving way to pain and despair.

Thus, a moment later, the impacts of those perceived piledrivers were joined by the much more destructive blows which stemmed from the real thing within the Angel's right hand. In a detached part of his mind, Shinji noted that he had now been lifted off of the building and was held up rather painfully by his head, the clawed hand of the Angel being the culprit in this. And, of course, this form of holding him aloft allowed the bizarre navi a rather convenient way to repeatedly smash his forehead with its energy piledriver, which it seemed to be doing liberally. In this detached part of his mind, his last conscious thought was _Damn, that _really_ must hurt..._ Only blackness followed, or so it seemed.

Naturally, considering that Shinji's lapse into unconsciousness coincided directly with the shattering of Unit-01's forehead armor by the piledriver, the Control Center quickly shifted from 'breathless anticipation' mode to 'Oh snap' mode. And, of course this resulted in a furor of activity, mostly panicked double-checking readouts and a few exclamations containing rather explicit language.

Despite his inner certainty of the situation's outcome, after a few seconds of watching his peons scramble about in the manner of domestic poultry lacking any control due to their lack of heads, Gendo Ikari was unable to tolerate the pandemonium any longer. Arranging his features into a slight scowl, the First Commander demanded in his usual frosty tone of command, "What is the status of the Third Child?"

And, miraculously (or perhaps not, considering the man in question), this quelled the din. Not that Gendo had any doubt of this outcome; as soon as the others realized that they had his attention, their antics would always cease; he was not a man one should displease. Thus, within a few seconds, one of the now calmed (and sweating) techs, a brunette female wearing a boyish haircut, replied in a somewhat terse voice, "Vital signs are dropping, Commander. The feedback from that last attack is putting tremendous stress on his body... But..."

Feigning an annoyed glance, despite knowing very well what the girl was about to add, the First Commander nodded. No sense in ruining the surprise of his little display quite yet. Thusly, appearing oblivious to the fact that he held his 'audience' in the palm of his metaphorical hand as they awaited his orders, Gendo Ikari simply watched on the largest of the screens. Upon it, Unit-01 lay limp against the building which it had now made its second impact upon, the armor of its forehead bearing a terrible gaping hole and the body laying slumped forward slightly, having rebounded a bit from the force of its collision as the Angel had released its body. For all intents and purposes, it was 'dead in the water,' so to speak...

Thus, of those within the room, only Gendo (and Fuyutsuki to a lesser extent) were unsurprised when the female tech suddenly noticed a flashing at her terminal and looked back to it, "...! Commander, Unit-01's Synchronization Level is _rising_! It's over 125 and climbing!" And, with that, chaos once again unfolded. This time, however, the First Commander was too entranced (or at least distracted; very little short of a naked Yui Ikari in a lab coat and nothing else was capable of entrancing the man) by the scene unfolding on the monitor to really give a damn. Of course, this didn't look odd--he just seemed as apathetic as usual to outward observers.

Regardless of the mental state of Gendo Ikari and the reactions to it or lacks thereof, the scene unfolding within the net quickly caught the complete attention of all present in the Control Center. After all, 'tis not every day upon which one is able to observe a netnavi that seemed a moment before to be completely inert and dysfunctional suddenly arise, its eyes now aglow with a quite sinister light. And, as the tech reported a moment later, the operator was still completely unconscious. Considering that the Evangelion was supposed to lack any AI of its own, this should be utterly impossible. The Angel obviously thought so, considering that it had long since moved onward in its indomitable search for the path into NERV's server. Well, perhaps not long since--it was still within the sight of the purple beast that had just reawakened. This was, understandably, a most inopportune place for said Angel to be at this particular interval.

Releasing a world-splitting roar, Unit-01 arose from the crater it had made in the cyber-building. Eyes afire with the aforementioned sinister green light, it looked rather horrific, especially considering the large wound it still prominently displayed. For a moment, it looked about, seeming to seek something, which it quickly found in the Angel. Eyes now boring into its adversary, the navi acted without further warning; hands coming forward, it fell into a heavy run towards the Angel. Rather than fully reaching it, however, a few cyber meters from its target, the Eva leapt slightly, so that as its target turned at the sound of footfalls, a foot literally fell, along with the rest of the Eva, full force into its 'face,' knocking it askew.

However, it seemed the attack was undone; with a sort of horrible grace, Unit-01 then back flipped off of the site of its impact, avoiding the beam which the Angel had deployed in a vain attempt to destroy its assailant. Affecting a landing on its arms and legs both, the Eva then slowly rose once more, even as the Angel in turn recovered its balance. But, before the latter could respond with another lancing beam attack, the former was running forward again, arms brought to the fore and spread, fingers splayed.

Naturally, the Angel brought up its AT Field at this point, seeing that its attacker meant to make another physical strike against it, but this didn't seem to phase the oncoming monster. Even as its impact against said field created hexagonal reddish ripples in the normally translucent energy, its own AT Field sprung into existence, and then the hands moved. Together, they slammed into the Angel's Field, breaking through at a point in the center. Then, without further prelude, they pulled outward, literally ripping a hole in the Field, which seemed to have been greatly neutralized by the use of Unit-01's during the same time period.

Regardless, the Angel didn't seem to want to be deleted yet; even as thus occurred, it brought both hands and its core to bear, unleashing a triple serving of scarlet energy beam. A very grave error; with another roar and a well-timed and placed deployment of its AT Field, the Eva deflected the trio of blasts...right back into the face of their owner, sending the Angel flying for once. And so, within a few seconds, the positions from before had been reversed; it was now the dark green intruder who lay sprawled against a wall and the purple demon which stood freely. And, unlike the former, the latter didn't seem inclined to give the other any reprieve.

Dashing towards its foe yet again, the Eva took a running leap, rising high above its target. This time, the aim of the descending foot was not the head, which had proved impervious to previous attacks, but rather the crimson sphere upon the chest. Either because it was in the vicinity of where a human's heart might be or because it was the originator of the bothersome beams, it had been pegged as the next target, and as the berserk navi fell towards it, the heel of an armored foot made directly for it.

Thus, the third impact of Unit-01 was not a third time against the building from before, but rather a shattering 'kick' of sorts to the core of the Angel. And it seemed to be working, as the latter seemed to convulse and shudder as the sphere cracked somewhat. Seeing this, the Eva gnashed its teeth together in what might have been construed as a smile and jumped back very slightly; just enough to allow its fists access to the sphere. Thus, without further delay, it began to pound upon the shattered orb, causing more cracks to form. But, alas, this didn't last...

Without warning, the claws of the orb's owner and the attached armed curled upward, wrapping Unit-01 in a...hug? Well, an 'embrace of death' might be a more appropriate term, for as soon as this was done, the said sphere began to glow, and a second later, the entire body of the Angel detonated outward, engulfing its foe in a lethal final blast, obviously meant as a last resort to destroy and foe which was able to defeat it in combat. And it seemed to have worked quite well...

But, even as the smoke swirled about the area, bits of now free-floating data careening about haphazardly, a shape emerged within the maelstrom. A mere shadow at first, it was quite definitely humanoid, and as it moved through the debris, it became clearer. Eventually, a horn emerged from the near edge, followed by the rest. Eyes seemed to glow as brightly as ever, menacing all who looked upon them, and the now blackened and scarred armor was horrific to look upon. Despite the fact that their 'champion' had clearly won, no one in the Control Center of NERV could bear to feel any elation as they watched the meticulous march of their savior out of the destruction save Gendo, and he was unable to show it. Finally, after taking a few more strides, the Eva collapsed to its knees, the light in its eyes dimmed, and it was finally extinguished as it fell completely to the cyber world's ground, then shifted to a beam of blue light and moved upward; Evangelion Unit-01.exe had returned to the PET of its unconscious operator.

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Author's Notes

Well, here's the Fourth. Took some time, as writing out elaborate one-on-one battle scenes is not an especially easy task, but I'm rather happy with the result here. Just hope I didn't overdo the sinister bit, but I thought it was highly important to make it clear that it was _not_ running normally. Of course, Gendo will have a cover-up for the truth; can't have people thinking that it having no AI was a lie, ja? And yes, I did take the berserker scene's details from the manga, as I happened to have it on hand and I _really_ didn't feel up to designing a second complete fight scene by myself. Now, to quickly address my reviews...

Erm, Blue Bragon, that was almost impossible to read. Could you _please_ try and be a bit more correct with spelling and grammar? I appreciate reviews, but it doesn't help much if I can't understand them. Anyway, though, of course other chips will be used, but I don't intend for Netto or Rock to be making any appearances. There will be other characters from older EXE arcs showing up, though. Who? That's my little secret. And I think this Movement should well answer your berserker question. As for adventures, I guess we'll have to see how things progress. I have the ending planned out, but there's plenty still to decide on 'tween here and there.

Wolfbane420, I'm sorry, but the only words which come to mind after reading your review are these, "He don't know me very well, do he?" As you might see in my profile, I support EnzanMeiru and NettoIris, and although neither of these will get any overt coverage here, you should thusly see why I refuse to do as you ask. Besides, neither Netto nor Meiru will even be appearing with the plans I have at present. They just don't factor into the story.

Anyway, with that done, I'd also like to mention that I'm looking for a few minor characters to make Shinji's class a bit more believable as far as those who constitute it. Thus, if you have any minor characters you'd like to see show up, so long as they're somewhat realistic, don't have overpowered custom navis (they can have customs, just keep the skill reasonable) and are not blatant self-inserts (only I get that kind of cameo, and you'll probably never recognize me unless you were a member of Forums a few years ago and attended a certain club), feel free to suggest them either by PM or review. Thus far, I have one character for the class.

Anyway, thanks for reading yet another Movement of my scary little crime against the lilim race, and I'd greatly appreciate reviews; although I'll never demand a certain amount of them before I do another chapter, it's quite encouraging and helpful to know from such that there are in fact people who read and are interested in my work. Oh, and much thank-stuffs to Lauren/Death Guardian, who I've enslaved—err, employed as my beta-reader.


	5. Fifth Movement: Reflections

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Fifth Movement

"Reflections"

Were the circumstances slightly different, one might have thought that what was perhaps the most exclusive room in NERV was a graveyard. It certainly possessed the morbid air of one, and had not the fifteen monoliths arrayed within been marked with 'SEELE,' numbers one through fifteen, and the designation 'Sound Only,' they would have made excellent headstones. But, even with these characteristics, there was still an air about them; it was as if Gendo Ikari sat not before a council of mere mortals, the bodies of whom were arrayed in the world's far corners, but rather before a panel of spirits. Not that he cared much; the old men were probably not far from becoming spirits anyway, and they'd be far less trouble that way.

Preventing himself from yawning (if showing weakness to the old men was signing your death warrant, showing confidence and strength to them was a first-class ticket to hell, all expenses paid), Ikari considered his report. He and the Sub-Commander had spent the last few hours combing through the data he would present, so it was certainly correct insofar as he desired it to be. The only real question now was if SEELE would accept it. He somehow doubted it, but he was counting on that; once they were sure that he was hiding the facts, they would be forced to spend much more time and resources on attempting to glean the whole truths he had concealed, and likely send operatives into NERV.

The former's benefits were obvious, but one might think that the latter would be disadvantageous, nein? Well, not necessarily; having SEELE agents be forced to assume a more active role would make them more visible, and thus easier to identify, subvert, misinform, and/or terminate. Besides, if they were forced to focus on the truths of what happened, they were more likely to miss the signs of his other unsanctioned clandestine activities which were indulged in for the creation and mountainous of his own scenario, something he _definitely_ had to keep the old men guessing as to the nature of.

Thus, after a quick but deep breath, mostly taken to look as if he were mildly concerned with the way the meeting was going to turn out, he began his presentation, "As expected, the Military was unable to defeat the Third Angel. After repeated failures, command of the operation was deferred to NERV. The Third Child arrived on schedule, and after a brief battle, the Angel was subdued. It was then deleted in a failed self-destruct attempt."

For a moment, the monoliths remained silent, likely thinking that their ambiguity was scaring the First Commander (in actuality, he was close to falling asleep. SEELE meetings never failed to be extraordinarily boring.). But, finally the one labeled 'SEELE 01' deigned to speak, a rather annoying voice whining forth, "We are aware of this, Ikari. Were there any deviations from the scenario?"

Internally sighing, Gendo replied in a bland (but still cold) tone, "No, things are proceeding exactly as they were laid out in the Dead Sea Scrolls. If there had been any deviations, you would have been informed." As if. The Dead Sea Scrolls? What did the old fools take him for, expecting him to believe in such rubbish? The scenario was going perfectly, as he had said, but it was _his _scenario, not the ridiculous plans laid out by the senile old men. But he couldn't let them know he knew they were blowing smoke (probably from a joint), so he avoided the temptation of a derisive laugh at their idiocy. 'Sides, he had an image to uphold.

"Very well, then, Ikari. What of the Human Instrumentality Project? Is it proceeding according to the schedule? Angels or no, the Project _must_ remain our first priority!" droned the voice, obviously reiterating an idea it had expressed quite a bit in the past; although the speaker was obviously trying to make it sound imposing, his heart simply wasn't in it. As for Gendo, he simply nodded, though inwardly he was rolling his eyes. Just because he couldn't see the faces behind the holographic monoliths didn't mean they weren't watching him. For some reason, the words 'Big Brother' came to mind, along with a date.

"Of course. No deviations from the scenario have occurred. You will be informed if they do so, Chairman." Gott im Himmel, why must the old fools repeat themselves so much? Didn't they know that he knew what he was doing? ...and since when did he speak German? Ah well. He'd tolerate the fools as long as they gave him the funding he needed, and deal with them when the time came. As to the latter...well, some questions are best left unanswered.

Either way, thankfully, the monoliths seemed as tired of the subject as Gendo. "Very well," came the nasal whine of SEELE 01, "Now, what is the current status of the Children and the Evangelion Units?" Of course, it simply _had_ to ask that one, despite the fact that the man behind the headstone could probably learn on his own as easily. It was just the way things went; SEELE liked to keep what it considered its underlings on their toes and ready to tell it whatever it wanted to hear. Intimidation or the like; it would never do to give others the space to actually think for themselves, would it?

Ah well; Gendo didn't care much if they knew or not, "The First Child is currently in the Emergency Ward recovering from injuries sustained in the course of a failed activation test and complications caused by the Angel attack. The Third is currently unconscious in the regular ward due to minor trauma suffered in battle. His life is in no danger." Pausing, he then pretended to glance at a file in his hand, then continued in a monotone, "Unit-00 has still not been reactivated. The next attempt is scheduled in two weeks time. Unit-01 has fully linked to the Third, and is currently undergoing recovery in his PET."

After a bit more of silly 'ominous' silence, SEELE 01 replied in a dismissive manner, "Very well, then we shall expect your next report in two weeks time, unless unforeseen deviations occur prior to that date. The scrolls do not tell us the exact date of the Fourth messenger's arrival, so be prepared for anything." Slight pause, more likely than not for the old fool to catch his breath, "This interview is at an end. Leave us, Ikari."

And so he did; quite gladly, in fact, though nothing of this showed outwardly, even once he was past the cryo-locked door which only he could open. It would never do for another living being to catch him with his defenses down, and so they were ever up. As he walked down the hall leading back toward his office, another joined in behind and to his right; Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, the older academic. Although his presence indicated that he had a report, Gendo knew by the fact that he had not yet said a word that it was more than likely positive or inconsequential. Hopefully it would be the former.

Once they arrived in his office, the one room within NERV in which Gendo Ikari could dance an Irish jig in his underwear and nothing else whilst conducting a choir of females clad in only lab coats without SEELE or anyone else being the wiser, he sat, then looked at the older man expectantly. He had no intention of performing said scenario, of course, but the fact that he _could_ if he had any desire to whatsoever was in effect vouching for the security of the room, hence why neither of the men had spoken prior to reaching it.

Now that they had in fact arrived in this sanctum, though, the Sub-Commander spoke, delivering his report in a tone hewn of granite; if it had not been so, it might have betrayed his disgust with the situation. Especially if his suspicions were correct. "Rei has stabilized. Her condition is still severe, however. That fall caused quite a few complications, and she'll be in the hospital at least three more days. The Third should be out by tonight, assuming he wakes up soon."

Gendo simply nodded, of course; this was as close to good news as he was going to get. And at least Rei wasn't going to die; it would have proved most irksome to the scenario if she had. Not that it'd have been some insurmountable obstacle, but he knew the old men would bug him to world's end for the smallest delay... "Very well. Report any changes in their status to me immediately, and inform Katsuragi of her new duties concerning the Third."

Quite obviously a dismissal, but Kozo lingered slightly, his pace slowing as he approached the door, "...Ikari, that explosion was highly convenient, wasn't it? It seems highly improbable that the only explosion to affect this facility occurred at such an exact time." An accusation? No, more like an inquiry; it wasn't like the professor would (or could, even) do anything in either case. He seemingly wished to know for the sake of knowing, a trait commonly observed in academia.

Looking up from his well-organized stacks of paper, Gendo blinked (luckily, the glasses concealed his lapse), then allowed himself a miniscule smile, and not the pleasant sort. Rather, it was as cold as his normal expression, and thus might be perceived as sinister. A slight movement of his hand then revealed a small black cube with a blue button on one side; this was all the answer he need give. All in the name of saving humanity, after all, ja?

Swallowing the bile which flooded his mouth as he so often did, the older man nodded, then turned to take his leave. It was not the first time he found himself wondering how he had managed to be so stupid as to entangle himself in the man's mad plot, nor would it be the last. Just as the road to hell was paved with good intentions, it seemed the stairway to heaven would be wrought of atrocities...

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Standing at the side of Misato Katsuragi and feeling somewhat cold, Shinji Ikari did his best to take his mind off the burning (freezing?) question of why exactly they were sitting out here on a ledge as the already low temperature plunged further. Misato said he'd have to see, and since he didn't have his S-DAT player with him, he needed something else to take his mind off the current situation until he saw whatever it was. An event he rather hoped would happen _soon._

But, since he could think of little else to do, the boy decided to reflect a bit on the bizarre events which had lead him to this particular impasse. He could remember the awful pain in his head as the Angel had hammered away with its piledriver, then there was darkness. Not a chill or depressing dark, but rather warmth and comfort. A feeling of being protected as he slept. He knew he must have dreamt to feel as such, but he could recall no such visions. This was doubly surprising when taken in conjunction with what he'd been told after awakening.

Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling in a cold hospital room had effectively dispelled the warmth he'd been feeling, and it left him scared...and confused. He had failed; the Angel had won. Why, then, was he awakening in a hospital rather than dead? After standing and exploring a bit, he'd encountered Ritsuko Akagi again. Considering her job, he had tentatively asked her what had happened and ended up being the one to answer questions instead. Wasting little time on niceties, the bleach-blonde had escorted him to her office and preformed a very thorough interrogation about his experience fighting the Angel.

Then, after writing up a report on this, the scientist finally bothered to reply, "It seems we all got lucky. After you went under, you must have entered REM Sleep. In this state, although your conscious mind was inactive, the Evangelion reactivated itself under the direction of your thoughts in the dream. The rest you can see for yourself." With that, the woman had pressed a button on her desk, revealing a fold-up vidscreen concealed in the face of the desk that seemed to already be programmed to play the battle back.

So, if what...he...had done to the Angel whilst in the dream state was so violent, maybe it was better that no memory of the said dream remained. He'd get enough nightmares from the whole experience as it was, and it seemed he was in for the long haul. About half-way through the fight scene, Misato had found her way into the office, and once the battle was done, she'd quickly spirited him away to have a talk with him also. If he hadn't just been watching footage which illustrated exactly why they had an interest in him, he might actually have felt like someone gave a damn about _him._

Anyway, after talking a bit (at least she was polite enough to ask him how he was) and a walk out of the hospital upon which they encountered the blue-haired girl from before, Rei Ayanami, as Misato had informed him (she seemed to be a lot calmer, at least, though obviously still quite badly injured. He thought she _might_ have acknowledged his presence with a look, but it was hard to tell with her), they'd ended up discussing his living circumstances. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he didn't mind the fact that he'd be living alone (better than having to live with the Anti-father of the year), she'd seemed highly distressed at the idea.

Before he could really give it much thought and despite his resistance, she'd then decided that she needed a roommate, and that he'd do fine. Calling Ritsuko on the phone, she'd arranged for it on the spot, after some rather embarrassing dialog concerning him which he'd rather not think about. If nothing else, this woman seemed to be the type who loved to flaunt herself, he noted. First there had been the photo, marked with an arrow to the beasts and the text "Note the cleavage," then the jokes in the car en route, and now this latest bit. But, he supposed that so long as it was only teasing, he'd get by. Considering that he was her new roommate, Shinji _really_ hoped it was just teasing.

Despite the fact that most boys his age would kill to bed someone like the Major, the truth was he was quite afraid of sexuality, and there was no way in heaven or hell he would even _consider_ jumping into a relationship with a woman almost twice his age. Besides, the cynical part of his mind noted, if she really was that slutty, such a liaison would not only be disgusting, but dangerous to his health. So, yes, to summarize, he _really_ hoped it was all just an affinity for teasing. _Really, really, really_ hoped...

"Shinji!" came the sound which (thankfully) broke him from this chain if thought, along with a slight shake. It seemed that whatever Misato wanted to show him was finally here. Well, he certainly hoped so--ah! As the purple-haired woman directed his attention toward the view of the city they had, the same view he had called desolate earlier (when all the lights were inactive due to the damage of the Angel attack, though he hadn't realized this), the last rays of the dying day's light vanished from view.

But, this was not the spectacle. Rather, at the same instant, lights began to blaze to life within the heart of the city. Being a quite new-age marvel, much of the inner city was wrought not of concrete and steel, but of glass, and the core of it was most spectacular, being designed in an array that much looked like a six pointed star. And so, as row after row of lights came to life, their splendor chipping away at the darkness, it seemed that a great star had been born within, and that it was now slowly growing outward; the overall design of the city mirrored its core. Truly a magnificent vision to behold.

So entranced at this vision of wonder was Shinji that his attention could not be fully drawn away by his companion, and so he barely grasped her words as she spoke, "This is our city, Shinji. And even if you don't realize it, you didn't just save your father and NERV today. You saved this city..." All the reply she got was a somewhat distracted nod, but it was enough for her that he had heard. Let him behold the wonder, for fascination's life is not long, and we all ought enjoy beauty whilst we are able...

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Author's Notes

Thank the Absent Gods that I finally got zis damn zing written. I was long agonizing over what to do for the scene in the second half, since I really didn't want to just jump to the hospital or to Misato's home, but I wasn't sure where then until I remembered the cliff scene. Seemed perfect for reflecting, so I used it. Apologies if it isn't as long as the others, but I thought where I ended it was the best place to do so. Anyway, I supposed next tine will have the first appearance of one of my own characters and one of the submitted characters. Actually, _the_ submitted character. Hint hint.

And, not to sound like a broken record, but review? Please? I know many of you probably just dismiss it because of the crossover aspect, but I assure you that I know what I'm doing here. The EXE world is my specialty, and I know a good bit about Eva too. So please, at least tell me what you think of how I'm doing? It really gets a bit depressing to see the number of hits I get for each chapter get lower and lower with each, and almost no reviews appear. And, that aside, character design submissions are still being happily accepted, and more would be much appreciated.


	6. Sixth Movement: Surprises

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Sixth Movement

"Surprises"

Netopia University, New London Branch. Within the confines of this illustrious institution, in a partially shadowed conference room, several individuals seemed to be partaking of a meeting. Amongst those in attendance were several rather credible professors, the dean himself, and one sixteen-year old boy. Surprisingly, of this group, the one who seemed most at ease was the latter, although considering his identity, it might be expected.

"Very well, then. I have no objections to accepting this assignment as long as you are certain the terms will be adhered to and that my father will not be notified," came the cool voice of said boy, sitting in a confident-yet-tense posture as he looked back at the dean, the man located across the semicircular table from him. The others in attendance were arrayed around the rest of the curved portion of the table, whilst the boy alone sat upon the flat end, creating a feeling of two distinctive sides.

Usually, this technique was used to effectively make students who were brought before this council quiver further, as they were obviously sitting in opposition to the upper echelons of the school. But, in the case of this boy with dual-toned hair (black and white), it seemed to be those who were united and not he who was alone that felt disadvantaged. That might have had something to do with the fact that the latter held a nigh-immaculate record, was at the top of his classes despite merely being of high school-age, and that he was the son of the president of IPC, one of the largest international corporations in existence.

Well, it probably had _something_ to do with those factors, but none of they could claim to be the primary cause of the group's discomfiture in calling him before them. No, rather this honor would fall to his reputation and history. Enzan Ijuin, known worldwide at age thirteen as an ace official Netbattler, was not a person to be taken lightly. Not only had he held the aforementioned position for the last four years, despite his studies, but he had been a major part of each incident in which Netto Hikari had saved the world, and the young hero was known to owe his life several times over to Enzan's skill, and of course that of Blues, his netnavi.

In short, the boy before them was somewhat of a living legend. Moreover, though, he was in possession of a spot in the classes of each individual, and that had been a sobering and quite unpleasant experience for all of those in question. Not only had he corrected them in the subjects which were supposedly their fortes, but despite his oft blatant disinterest, his work remained flawless, giving them no grounds to fault him. This was the reason they were met at the semi-round table today; they intended to deliver upon the boy the action which would hopefully be the 'final solution' to what they had begun to term the "Ijuin Problem."

"Excellent," came the slightly nervous but still authoritative voice of the dean, "You'll find all the information about the job in question in your mailbox; my secretary will deliver it as soon as the meeting is done. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact the employer. As to you father, that's certainly acceptable; this is an honors indication, and he has asked not to be notified of such things."

Nodding, Enzan picked up the briefcase that he had brought with him into the room, stood, and turned. Before making his exit, he replied, "Very well. Good day." Brief and expeditious as ever; one should expect nothing else from the boy, certainly not social niceties. Such things were most definitely not his style.

Once he was gone, the group let out a collective sigh of relief; that had gone much better than expected. Now, unless some unforeseen complication(s) arose, the boy would be out of their hair for quite a while. Such a brilliant plan they had concocted to dispose of him. It was perfect! As such, in the celebratory spirit, the dean produced a bottle of fine wine from the desk, along with several glasses. Pouring one for himself, the older man then passed the supplies out to the others in attendance.

"I propose a toast," said he, voice having recovered from the earlier nervousness as soon as Ijuin passed beyond earshot, "to the Final Solution of our problem, and a return to peace and normalcy for our great institution!" With that, all raised their glasses, touching them to those whoever was nearest. It didn't take long for the bottle to expire, but the dean seemed to have more, and despite what consequences this might bring to their Sunday mornings, they seemed to think this an occasion worthy of 'getting smashed.'

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If this was what Netopian school was going to be like, decided Shinji Ikari as he entered class on the Monday following his arrival, then perhaps it might not be the boring hellhole that Electopian School had been. Although it was likely a bit premature to make such judgments, seeing two people with what were obviously custom NetNavis openly net battling as his first experience from school seemed to herald that it might not be too strict or dull...

The two in question were both females, but that was about as far as the similarities went. Standing at opposite sides of the vidscreen which had replaced the concept of a blackboard, the two seemed to be in (and from) separate worlds.

To the right was a slightly older girl, although still around sixteen. Standing taller than most in the class, she looked much like an athlete; especially with the heavy tan she wore. Classically built, her limbs contained more of her height than her body, green eyes and blonde hair completing what could have been beauty in its most well-known form had it not been untended. Hair, although long, was messy and somewhat frizzy, and she wore no makeup at all, matching her mostly masculine attire; obviously a tomboy.

In dire opposition to this, the girl to Shinji's left was, from the first glance, stunning and perfected. Slender, her chest bearing more curves than her hips, her skin was smooth and an almost alabaster tone, although taken in combination with the rest of her appearance, this was likely due to lack of exposure to the elements and not a lack of pigment. Over this came a somewhat shimmering (silk?) outfit composed of a well-tailored black shirt in the style of a T-shirt, but obviously of much higher quality, and a skirt that, although not being especially low, wasn't quite immodest. In the case of this one, the hair was, like the skin, quite smooth and extremely well-cared for, falling freely down her back and almost reaching her waist. Not only that, but its hue was platinum blonde, and should it have been a dye job, Shinji would never have known.

The manners in which the two conducted themselves during the battle were rather different also. The tomboy, as to be expected, was much more animated; she oft used her body to help convey commands to the navi who served her, and the voice with which she issued orders was quite loud, although not entirely unpleasant. Still, it would have been far less unpleasant if it weren't wielded in such an abrasive fashion. Ah well. As for the other, she stood nearly immobile, her posture straight and her entire attention focused on the PET in her hand. She wasn't quite demure or innocent, though; despite her somewhat passive manner, there was a certain steel to her, and orders were delivered in a quiet but firm voice. She was certainly not merely a well-bred pushover, as one might have expected from her appearance.

When the vehement opposition of their operators was taken into consideration, it then came as a surprise that the two navis doing the battling weren't at all near as supremely different, and it was towards the style of the girl to the left which both fell. Elegance seemed to be central to both design and function, for the appearances and actions of both spoke of little else save deadly precision.

Feminine was the one who took up the banner belonging to the former girl, and the first word to enter the mind of Shinji Ikari upon noting her was "ballet." And indeed, she did much resemble a ballerina, her form lithe, though much resembling her operator in build. Magenta seemed to constitute much of her body, with black playing in around hands, inner thighs, calves, and midriff. As far as facial skin-tone, it was quite dark, even more so than her op's, and her upper face was currently obscured by a visor of sorts, which seemed to have slid down from the fore-section of her helmet. It seemed to be some sort of scope-apparatus, with a single eye-like design in the middle that seemed able to cover multiple directions.

Above this plate and before the next one, emerged bangs of an extremely light pink color, almost seeming to be white. Accompanying them came a lengthy torrent of similar stands from behind the rest of the helmet, currently styled in a single ponytail. From what could be seen 'neath the visor, her eyes seemed to be a hue of gold, and from them descended downward vertical lines to the level of her lips, both of which matched the tone of her hair. Perhaps what contributed most to the ballerina image, though, was the fact that she seemed to be eternally on the tips of her toes, and she glid as opposed to walking.

As for her adversary, he was most definitely a knight, though not an especially bulky one. In fact, even in armor, he was quite slender in build, body being obviously designed for finesse rather than for power. Nevertheless, he was armored, as any good knight; the entirety of his body save his head was bound up in an intertwined network of metallic black, alabaster, and stem-green lace, all obviously stronger than its appearance would suggest, considering that it was _armor_ and all. This lace armor, although strong, did nothing to limit its wearer's mobility, it seemed.

Accompanying it, a number of loose white strands fell down his dorsal surface, creating a quasi-cape effect with a few black strips mixed in at intervals _in nomine_ visual dynamics. His head was covered in a helmet of more static lacework, making it less flexible than his body armor, but also more aesthetically attractive. Face was kept unseen 'neath a veil-like construct which fell over it, although the actual consistency of the material rendered it more akin to a facemask. Finally, 'pon his chest was a mark that showed his symbol, the bloom of Queen Anne's Lace, and in his right hand he held just such a flower, or at least data in the image of one.

It seemed to Shinji that, as he set his bag down at a vacant desk, he had arrived at an optimal time; since neither appeared to have sustained damage or even brought a weapon to bear, he surmised that the battle must just be beginning.

The latter seemed to extend several lace strands from his left-hand fingers, manipulating them into a trapezoidal shield which was used to deflect the first few warm-up shots from a cannon chip. Didn't take long for the tomboy to get impatient with distanced battle, though, and soon she was ordering her navi to charge, which it did with an uncanny grace, both arms shifting to blue-white swords as battle chips were slotted in.

The other seemed to be oblivious to this new danger... or waiting for it. Just as the female reached slashing range, the lace-based navi made a powerful jump, easily clearing the slash-range of the blades. Mid-way through the leap, he then propelled the flower in his hand like a dart, sending it lancing toward the female before using his momentum to back flip and back a landing a good bit back, another flower materializing in his hand with a flourish.

Meanwhile, the first flower, seemingly harmless, struck the female in the chest, due to a combination of the perception of it as a visual touch only and the speed at which it was thrown. Regardless of the reason, though, it would prove to be most unfortunate for the one it had struck; 'pon impact, the white and green object exploded, causing a bit of damage and throwing the attack off balance. Thus, instead of continuing her forward dash for a second attack, she was forced to take a moment to steady herself and assess the damage done.

It seemed, though, that her adversary had no intent of allowing her a respite to perform this function; he was already dashing forward, the flower in his hand held up to the opposite shoulder as he ran. Thus, seeing that her foe was on the offensive, the female prepared to destroy the flower if it was thrown... only to taken by surprise when, rather than flinging it again, he brought it down as if to slash with an invisible blade. Midway through the 'slash,' however, lacework shot out from the flower's center, forming into a blade impossibly quickly and causing the second half of the slash to leave a mark across his adversary's front, but moreover, to remove her left arm and sword.

This attack wasn't without cost, though; the ballerina-like navi wasn't one of the more highly ranked in the class for nothing. Ignoring the severed appendage, she made a quick slash with her remaining arm, generating a gash in the lace-armor 'round the other's torso, and then hastily beating a retreat as her op slotted in a Recovery battle chip, restoring her severed arm. In an attempt to then prevent the other from following up, her hand was then replaced with the boxy shape of a High-Cannon, but the blast found no target once it was loosed; what had been her foe fell before the shot as a pile of loose lace.

Instead, as a piece of lace snaked itself around her neck, the rich voice of the knight-navi could he heard in her ear, "It seems that Lady Cynthia shall remain undefeated, m'lady. I'm afraid you've lost. This battle is at an end." Having created a duplicate of himself of lace a moment after the other had slashed at him, a Pop-up battle chip had then allowed the knight to make his approach without being noticed, creating for him a golden opportunity to take the female completely by surprise. And thus, due to the fact that he could delete her with a single move, he was quite correct.

At this point, slight applause broke out from the members of the class who were present; it seemed that many of them were quite glad to see the tomboyish girl defeated. Either way, grumbling and muttering what were probably obscenities under her breath, she bit out, "Bleh. Plug-out, Dolly! We'll get you for this next time, Claudius!" The last bit was obviously directed at her opponent, who only blandly nodded, then plugged her own navi out.

Both seemed to be about to return to seats (opposite each other in the room) and several more students had filed in during the battle, leaving the room mostly filled when a cool voice made its way through the din of the room's not-yet-self-organized chaos, "You should save your battling for later. There is no point using navis to squabble like children."

Considering the tone of voice combined with the content, two things happened very quickly. First, those who hadn't been involved suddenly came to be in seats and somewhat attentive. Well, in seats, at least. Secondly, all eyes in the room, including those of the two girls, at least one of whom was akin to a deer in the headlights, were turned towards the source of the voice. It seemed to Shinji that the teacher must have arrived, 'til he noticed the fact that the others seemed surprised to hear it also--ah, yes, hadn't Misato said his class would be getting a new teacher today also? Apparently, the Angel's attack had badly injured the previous one...

Still, that hadn't prepared him (or the others, obviously) for the person who walked through the door, accompanied by the kindly woman who had been substituting. As the two walked through the now dead-silent room, the girls who were still standing had differing reactions; the platinum-blonde whose navi had referred to her as Cynthia simply returned to her seat, whilst the other was left dumbfounded until a freckled brunette girl jumped up and dragged her to a seat. Thus, the entire class was seated and surprisingly tense as the two reached the front of the room.

"Class," began the woman as her companion simply stood by her side, both being in front of the large desk that would be the arrival's soon, "due to the lack of able teachers available, we've worked out an arrangement with the University of Netopia. Until a more qualified person comes to light, we've accepted their gracious offer of assistance. So, without anymore prelude, I'd like to introduce you all to your new teacher, Mr. Enzan Ijuin!"

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Author's Notes

Wow, I actually turned this out surprisingly fast. Well, I've had the idea for the netbattle in my head for a bit now, ever since I saw Bloody Angel X's character and decided than she and Cynthia won't get along. Anyway, considering that the rest of this chapter was a spur-of-the-moment plot twist, I hope I shocked you all with this little turn of events. I'd actually been planning Enzan involvement from the beginning, just not this soon.

Also, in a highly annoying bit of irony, I still haven't thought up scenarios for Shamshel, Ramiel (well, I'm going to use the manga scenario, but I really need to adapt it to fit), and Gaghiel, despite having mostly thought through Israfel, Leliel, Bardiel, Arael, Armisael, and Tabris. Ah well, though. I'll manage to come up with them, and I can easily make it through another without having Shamshel appear if I really need to. And yes, this one is still a bit short, but again, I hit a good ending point. Reviews would be nice, and thanks to those who reviewed last time. And thanks to Lauren, Blues, and Mirage, my three closest friends whose assistance and ideas have been invaluable in creating this story thus far.

Oh, and since Lauren wasn't feeling well, I beta'd this one myself. Do you prefer the way this and the First Movement (after I edited it) are done or the way the rest are? 'Cause, though I'm not fond of the idea, I'd be willing to look over future chapters myself too if it's preferred by you reader people.


	7. Seventh Movement: Observations

Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6

"Synchronize"

(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)

Disclaimer

Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to myself (CyberForte).

Seventh Movement

"Observations"

"How's school coming?" opened the conversation as a quite spent-looking Misato Katsuragi managed to slump into a chair within her apartment, a golden beer can in hand. Her clothing and manner both well-evidenced the fact that she'd been working later than usual, never mind that she'd just now arrived home whilst Shinji was preparing for them breakfast. Definitely too many night shifts; the woman had barely seen her charge since the makeshift 'party' on the night of his first arrival, although she'd come to greatly appreciate his presence. Not only was the apartment actually clean of late, but she had _real food,_ something that might once have been considered a myth in the Katsuragi household.

As for Shinji, he didn't appear to mind the arrangements either; he actually seemed to _enjoy_ cooking, and after tasting Misato's own attempts at such, she had been banned from the kitchen with appropriate haste. Also, despite his initial shock at the existence of a beer-drinking hot-spring penguin living in a converted refrigerator, the two seemed to have hit it off well. That most likely had a great deal to do with the aforementioned banning of Misato from the kitchen, of course.

So far, the only real point that the two had encountered any friction over was her drinking habits; apparently, he wasn't the kind of person who could understand what drove a woman such as herself to be a complete alcoholic, but even then, the boy's somewhat timid nature had prevented any overt fights. He'd get used to it in time, she was certain, though she did note that other potential tensions would likely arrive in the next few days, since she would (hopefully) be getting back to a more normal schedule. But she had no intention of worrying over them just yet; it was enough of a problem avoiding simply collapsing on the table, never mind trying to hold a conversation, so there was no way in hell she going to add anything further to her concerns at present.

At least the food seemed almost ready... And indeed, as Shinji nodded, eyeing his nigh-unconscious guardian with alarm, yet still serving up several pancakes for her as he replied, "It's alright, I guess. It's not really much like school back in Electopia." He might have said more, but he wasn't sure how to say it really, and the question he intended to ask, although by normal standards almost completely innocuous, seemed to him as if it might imposing upon her, especially considering all that the woman had already done for him. So, although he wanted to ask, he decided that it might not be best to do so quite yet. Maybe once things became a bit less hectic for her...

Thus, the rest of the meal was passed in silence, one too caught up in his own introversions and considerations to say anything, the other too tired to do much save ingest her food and take the occasional swig of beer. A rather dull experience, but better than most days; he'd usually just see that she'd come in early in the morning, while he was sleeping, and so leave her a plate of food for whenever she got up, make his lunch, and leave for school. And, since he finished eating long before her, he had mostly prepared said lunch by the time Misato was done, and he was on his way out the door when she seemed to remember something.

"Oh, Shinji... Ayanami's gonna to be returning to school today. Could ya keep an eye on her? She doesn't have any friends, and I don't know if she'd tell anyone if she had a relapse. She really shouldn't be out of the hospital yet, but the Commander was adamant that she be released as soon as they'd allow it..." Well, aside from the wince at a further example of his father's cruel ways, the request seemed to go over without any real problems, so after seeing his hesitant nod, the tactical director of NERV managed to get to her feet, then to stumble unceremoniously to the door of her room.

As Shinji exited the apartment, his last impression of the woman was a lump on the wall fumbling with the door handle, trying without success to open it. Had it not been who it was, the boy might have laughed, but his conscience wouldn't let him as it was; she'd been far too nice to him for him to repay her with such disrespect. Especially if he intended to ask her any favors... So, he refrained from doing so, despite the humorously pathetic effect of the scene, instead closing the door behind him and beginning the rather dull (like the rest of his life wasn't?) trek to school.

Of course, such treks are oft ideal for introspection and internal monologue/dialog, though Shinji wasn't the type to discriminate; he could have fallen into such anywhere, so long as his father wasn't in the near vicinity. Still, it was good to have such an opportune time, and as was his nature, the boy was quick to make use of it. Naturally, considering the situation, the object of his thoughts was one Rei Ayanami, a girl he'd met merely twice, and yet perhaps the one of those he'd encountered to make the most distinct impression upon him.

After all, even in this era, features like hers were extraordinary. Blue hair wasn't as uncommon as it might have been in the past, but it was still an anomaly, and coupled with her lighter than normal skin and crimson eyes, hers wasn't an appearance easily forgotten. And whilst, for obvious reasons, she hadn't exactly come off as beautiful, especially with the circumstances he'd observed her under, she certainly had great potential to be attractive. Of course, considering that she had been in extreme pain and bandaged rather extensively, very little of that potential had been utilized during their encounter. Though the fact that her suit had been extremely formfitting in the unbandaged areas helped a little, but the former aspects had banished any sexual thoughts it might have otherwise inspired, thank God.

But, moreover, what made his thoughts turn to her, aside from the obvious reason involving Misato's request, was the fact that she was an enigma, and so interesting. He hadn't been able to learn much about her, but from what little he had gathered... Rei Ayanami, designated the First Child by the Marduk Report (what this was, he was still uncertain). She was apparently also an Evangelion operator then, and held the same military rank as he did (pilot, as it was the closest classical position that could be applied to their job) in NERV and so presumably the Netopian Army. He'd been able to learn only two things about her past; the fact that her legal guardian was and had been for as long as anyone he's spoken to could (or would reveal, at least) Gendo Ikari, and that she had apparently been injured in an accident a few days prior to the attack, hence her miserable state.

No one seemed willing to give him information on the incident, but he'd heard Misato slip once and refer to it as the "activation test." This obviously suggested something to do with Eva, especially considering that no one would tell him; they were trying to avoid scaring him, or so he deduced. However, this brought to mind the question of, considering that he seemed now to be Eva's operator, what she would do. He hoped she didn't resent him for it now that she was recovering, considering that he didn't exactly adore the situation either...

But, if any of the gossip around school was to be believed, there wasn't much chance of that. He certainly wasn't 'in,' but it was hard not to hear what people said sometimes. Whenever she came up, much of the class tended to act either derisive or pitying. Those exhibiting the former reaction would usually make snide or sarcastic comments, often questioning whether she was even human. The others would often speculate as to what made her as she was, often citing beliefs of a family tragedy, or some other form of severe trauma.

Both groups agreed for the most part on two things, however. The first was that Rei Ayanami could easily be a very attractive person, but seemed to almost purposefully quash that by refusing to take care of her appearance at all and wearing what might be the plainest attire imaginable. Secondly, they tended to agree that she was easily the most withdrawn and anti-social person they had met (often with the added clause that she was emotionless or a "doll"). So, he could see why Misato had said that she had no friends at all. But why then was she returning to school so soon? He couldn't see his father caring enough to make her go to school, even if he had dismissed her from the hospital, and it wasn't like she had much to go back to...

Regardless, though, his musings were required to end at this point; he was approaching the school, and thus the streets were becoming more full of other teenagers. As such, there was a good chance that any encounter resulting from a collision wouldn't end well for Shinji; he was hardly a physically powerful or imposing person, to understate the facts. Thus, it would be quite prudent for him to return his consciousness to watching his surroundings. Besides, he'd hopefully be able to form his own opinion of Ayanami once they had more formally "met." After all, their two encounters thus far couldn't really be considered meetings; not a single word had passed between the two in either.

He gave some thought to waiting for her at the entrance, but a verdict of inaction was quickly rendered. Truthfully, he had no idea what he would do or say, and so it would just be awkward. Maybe he could try to talk to her at lunch hour, or something. Or maybe tomorrow he could bring her lunch. Hopefully Misato knew what she liked; food was usually good for resolving animosity, and it could give him an excuse to talk to her (assuming he could manage to work up the nerve to, which was questionable, much to his internal chagrin)... Anyway, though, Shinji pushed aside the mental deliberations again as he attempted to reach class early enough to avoid the crowds' entries.

After a few minutes of weaving, dodging, and doing his best to reach class without offending anyone in the halls, Shinji managed to achieve this goal, taking a seat at the same desk he'd used since his arrival. For some reason, he liked it, and since he got there earlier than most, he'd managed to procure it every day. Luckily, it was only one seat diagonally away from the window seat which he assumed was Ayanami's, considering that it was the only seat in which no one ever sat, and that people often commented on the girl's apparent habit of staring blankly out the window.

Regardless, it wasn't long before more people arrived. Surprisingly, considering her present status, Ayanami was actually one of the first. As he'd guessed, she took the seat by the window, her form still much bandaged, including one eye. Her hair was not anymore well kept, and her face was blank, much as it had seemed in the hospital. Also as expected, her clothing was extremely plain; a simple blue skirt and white shirt. Thankfully (as Shinji noted with a glance at his own semi-formal outfit, which he had developed a preference for in Electopia, but which thusly now encompassed almost his entire wardrobe), there was no silly school uniform enforced here in New London; his old school and possessed one, and everyone had looked boringly the same, never mind all the complaining...

Not long after Ayanami's entrance, Kaede (as he had learned was the name of the tomboyish girl who'd been battling on his first day) made her own, casting a baleful glare at Cynthia (the platinum blonde from aforementioned netbattle). She was obviously still wishing for revenge, but due to the facts that, unlike the previous teacher, Enzan was not lenient with those who he found netbattling when class began and that Cynthia never stayed after school, whilst Kaede usually had at least one athletic activity, she'd yet to extract it. The latter, as usual, didn't bother to even look at her self-declared nemesis, but rather seemed more interested in looking at the blue-haired arrival, perhaps sizing up her injuries.

Ayanami herself seemed oblivious to the direct attention of at least two of her classmates and the glances thrown her way by many others as they entered, though. Rather, she seemed vastly more interested in staring out the window to oblivion, so Shinji decided he'd better get ready for class himself, considering that she'd done so already, and that the rest of the class would be coming in soon. He'd have to try not to look at her too much, considering how fast people were to tease here. It was a real change from Electopia, where teasing had tended to be more among friends only, and since he'd never had any friends, he was having a bit of trouble getting used to the concept.

But even back in Electopia, if you were caught staring at a girl, you weren't likely to hear the end of it soon, and it wasn't like he could tell them the real reason. His father's orders (relayed through Misato, of course) had been explicit on the count that he was not to say, do, et cetera _anything_ which might so much as hint at knowledge NERV's existence or his affiliation with them. Thus, he turned to setting up his desk-based computer for class. Most students would have their navis do it, of course... But, for him, doing that would basically be the same thing, but more difficult.

Naturally, Eva had been disguised as a normal navi, but because it had no AI whatsoever, in order to operate it at all, he still had to have partial synchro, as it would only respond to his thoughts. Needless to say, without the assistance of a synch-plug, trying to operate this way wasn't easy for him. He was consequentially considered one of the worst netbattlers in the class. That was what he had been hoping to talk to Misato about... Apparently, as rumor had it, she'd been quite the hotshot back in college, and so he was really hoping that she could help him improve. But he was a bit worried that it would be imposing, with all she had to do...

Either way, the boy began the process of initializing the programs he'd need for class, as well as uploading his homework from the PET, an arduous task, as it involved controlling the navi without moving his actual body, a feat he still hadn't mastered completely. He'd gotten quite a few laughs during netbattling class for it... As a related thought, he wondered how Ayanami was at netbattles. He's seen the class ranking, and she hadn't even been on it, but that was for out-of-class battling; until Enzan's arrival, they hadn't had much of a netbattling class anyway, and now that they did, those matches often had gimmicks, so they weren't scored on the ranking.

Finally, after a few minutes, during which most of the rest of the class made its entrance, he managed to mostly finish the preparations with a minimal amount of real-world movements, though he failed to notice that almost every one of those which were in fact made fell under close surveillance. By whom, one might ask? Well, that information is still on a need to know basis, and I don't think you need to know just yet... Either way, once Shinji plugged-out his navi and relaxed, with a slight glint of light on glass, the observer turned away, seeing to his own preparations with relative Godspeed.

Once the last few had straggled in, all having made it on time, a fact which might have been shocking were it not for the fact that, as he had every day, Enzan's arrival was perfectly synchronized with the ringing of the tardy bell. With most teachers, this wouldn't have made much difference, of course, however it had become obvious in the last five days that the "skunk-head," as he was referred to when out of earshot, was not the type of teacher one could cross lightly. Frankly, most of the class was extremely thankful that New London schools didn't allow physical pain as punishment...

Regardless, once said bell tolled (they had the novelty of an actual _bell_, something which was quite the oddity and rarity among schools in this era) and the teenaged teacher had made his entrance, class began. For the most part, it went as normal, though Shinji noted more that one slightly annoyed glance fly in Ayanami's direction during the course of the day; apparently, Enzan was not used to people appearing to blatantly ignoring him. And yet, he couldn't really make a point against the girl, for whenever he attempted to catch her spacing out by throwing a question her way, she would state the correct answer in dull fashion, almost sounding bored. Shinji quickly came to the conclusion that she was either a genius or she had better listening skills than her manner would indicate.

Whichever of these she had, however, did not seem to provide her with much help when it came to netbattling class. Rather, when she made no move to join the rest of the class in the commune to the netbattle lab and failed also to respond to the expectant looks she was cast, she was approached by a quite irked Enzan, who almost demanded to know why she wasn't joining the others. Very rarely had the class seen the boy so annoyed, and even Cynthia had been forced to back down the previous time that it had occurred...

Thus, it was quite surprising that the blue-haired girl didn't so much as flinch, but rather calmly indicated that she would be unable to participate in the class. Apparently, her PET and netnavi had been damaged in the incident that had led to her injuries, and both were still undergoing repairs. As such, she possessed only a subpet and no ability to netbattle.

To Shinji, more surprising than her seeming imperviousness to Enzan's anger was the introduction of a new possibility to his thoughts concerning her. Assuming that this story was not a complete farce, a possibility which couldn't be excluded when his father was involved, then could it be that Ayanami's experience hadn't been with Eva as he knew it? He'd never really considered the existence of a second Eva before, though he now wondered why.

For that matter, though, if they could produce more, why only two? Although his designation as "Third Child" seemed to indicate that there weren't more than three... Then again, if the numbering did in fact go in order, and Ayanami was the "First Child," then he had to wonder if there was a "Second Child" as well. If so, he'd certainly heard no mention of it, and there hadn't ever been any other children around NERV...

However, if he was right and Ayanami had been that injured from something to do with Eva... Maybe the "Second Child" had been killed in an Eva-related accident? Especially since his Eva had been designated "Unit-01." After all, why should the "Third Child" be operating what was presumably the first Eva, assuming there existed more than one...?

But, once again, his musings were interrupted, this time by an outside source, "Ikari, do you have an excuse too, or did it slip your mind that you are still in school?" Well, certainly not a pleasant wake-up call, although quite an effective one. Thus, with a bow and a timid apology, the dark-haired boy quickly rushed off to catch up with the class after one last glance at Ayanami, who hadn't left her seat and seemed to be reading.

When they returned an hour or so later, aside from being about a fourth of the book further than she had upon their departure, the girl could have been an exact imprint of how she had been upon the class's exit. It was mildly unsettling, and Shinji was starting to understand why Misato was worried about the girl. And, like much of the class (though the latter had mostly given up ever finding out), he found himself curious about what made the girl tick in the fashion in which she did so. She didn't seem depressed, exactly, just...mechanical? No, not really that. Empty, maybe? Regardless of what, it interested him, which was surprising; in the past, he'd rarely bothered to care about other people. They were just...there.

Maybe it was because she could be in the same boat as he? Even more rare than being interested in another person had been finding anyone he could associate with or empathize with; even the other social outcasts always had their own groups, and he'd never been invited or had an interest in any (at least he tried to tell himself that. The truth was that he was too afraid of rejection to try to make an entry into any, but he'd run away from that, too). As such, finding someone who was in the same bind as he would be a new experience, if he could convince himself to actually _do_ anything about it. After all, misery loves company.

Speaking of misery, it might be noted that Shinji winced slightly as he took his seat. Even with a low synchronization rate, some of the damage suffered in battle was still transferred to him, and although he'd done better than usual today, his opponent had, unfortunately, been Kaede. As such, he had taken quite the beating, despite the handicap given to him for his lack of skill in the form of several powerful chips. Maybe he should talk to Misato tomorrow morning after all; even with recovery chips easing it somewhat, he could only endure this kind of punishment for so long...

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By school's end, Shinji had seemingly managed to continue watching the quasi-albino without detection, or so he thought, though in this he was wrong. Rather, he himself had remained under observation the entire day, a fact of which he was unaware, and although his watcher was aware of his surveillance of Ayanami, said watcher had made no comment upon this in the name of not tipping his own hand.

After all, a good spy never told the enemy that they were being watched until it was time to properly affect the confrontation and use all that you'd learned. So, with a final glance at Shinji, who was going towards the Katsuragi residence, he then turned his gaze to Ayanami, who's form was already receding. Yes, defiantly a connection between the two, which was further evidence to support his theory.

Sure, he supposed that it _could_ be a crush or something, but having watched Shinji for the last week, he didn't think so. No, rather the boy had some ulterior motive, especially since he'd starting watching her as soon as she came into class, yet evidenced no surprise about her appearance or condition. There _must_ be a connection...

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Author's Notes

Tch, despite being happy to finish here...my overall mood is fell. You see, I wrote most of this on my compy, but then two nights ago, my screen broke. As such, although I was able to save this onto a disk and transfer it to my mother's Macintosh before the screen went out, I can't really do much online, which has really screwed over my life. Bleh. Regardless, I shall endeavor to continue writing—what else can I do?

Anyway, just to note, if Shinji's musings seem slightly off, do remember that they should be taken as the narrator's paraphrasing and not a direct account of the thoughts. Such direct thoughts are italicized. Also, I've been trying to make the Movements a bit longer, or at least to make them cover more; I think that, for their length, most of the early Movements don't really cover enough. Did I do better this time? And once again, I self-edited, though I'll probably ask Lauren to check it quickly also.


End file.
